


Keeping You Warm

by DesertSnowQueen



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Batman being a dad, Dick doesn't believe in magic, F/M, Fluff, Marinette likes teasing Damian, Miraculous Side Effects, More characters to be added, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, a little bit of salt is important in your diet, and then picked the first link and just went down the list, bad dating advice, i googled "horrible dating advice" before writing that conversation, jackets, just to fill out this AU's flavor profile, minor side effects though, partial reveal, ptsd mention, seriously don't take their advice, she feels like they're on equal footing so she's more confident, slight salt, the batfam don't know about Paris's heroes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-11-12
Packaged: 2020-07-12 00:55:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 66,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19937362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DesertSnowQueen/pseuds/DesertSnowQueen
Summary: Marinette and Damian go on a date during Marinette's class trip to Gotham City.Inspired by/spinoff of @ozmav's AU





	1. Breaking and Entering

**Author's Note:**

“Damian, where are we going?” Marinette asked, hugging his arm a little tighter. It being summer, she hadn’t thought she would need a jacket on this trip so she didn’t bring one. She was desperately regretting that decision as she clung to her new friend for warmth.

“It’s a surprise, Angel,” Damian reminded her, fending off a rising blush as she huddled closer. _How is she so cute?_

“Can you at least tell me if we’re close?” she begged. Her teeth were about to start chattering from how cold she was getting. 

_Damn Miraculous side-effects,_ she silently cursed. _Why can’t I actually withstand the cold like a normal person? I don’t want to hibernate on this trip!_

“We’re almost there,” he promised. “I think you’ll really like it. Maybe you’ll even be inspired to draw a few things?”

“What do you think I’ll want to draw?”

“Angel, if I told you what was there, that would ruin the surprise.”

“Fine,” she grumbled, then fought off a shiver. “Can you at least tell me if it’ll be warm?”

“It should be…wait are you really cold?” Damian asked as he stopped walking to look at her.

“A little…” Marinette admitted. Another chill tore through her, and she couldn’t suppress her shiver that time. Damian swore under his breath.

“Angel, why didn’t you say anything? Here, take this,” he said, slipping off his jacket. He draped it over her shoulders before she could argue. Marinette blushed furiously as the gesture.

“Damian! You’re going to freeze! Or get sick! Or both! You need your jacket!” she protested.

“I’m used to Gotham’s weather, and you clearly aren’t. I’ll be fine, Angel. Please, just wear it until you warm up?”

Marinette hesitated. She really didn’t want him to get sick, but at the same time…she did need a jacket. She nodded, adjusting the jacket so her arms were actually in the sleeves. The jacket was clearly too big for her, as Damian’s frame was considerably larger than her own, but she made it work. She adjusted the sleeves so they didn’t cover her hands and zipped the jacket closed before wrapping her arms around her middle for extra warmth. When she was done, she looked back up at Damian and realised he was staring at her with a blush dusting his cheeks, making her own blush deepen.

_He’s not blushing, Marinette,_ she told herself, _his cheeks are just red from the cold. Friends don’t blush when their friends borrow their jackets._

_She’s so cute,_ Damian found himself thinking as he stared at her. _And she’s blushing…that means she likes me too, right? That isn’t just because she’s cold? Am I actually winning her over? Wait, am I staring at her? Say something, imbecile! Be smooth!_

"Beautiful,” he said, a fond smile softening his normally sharp green eyes.

Marinette sputtered at the sudden compliment, then whined his name and covered her face with her hands. Damian chuckled and pulled her hands away gently so he could see her eyes again.

“I didn’t realize you were shy, Angel,” he teased. “You don’t have to be.”

“I’m not usually,” Marinette grumbled, “but you can’t just say things like that, Damian!”

“But it’s true. Would you rather I lied?”

“Well, no, but...can we just go to wherever it is you’re taking me before we both get frostbite?”

“Angel, you aren’t going to get frostbite in the summer in Gotham.”

“Hypothermia, then.”

“Are you always this dramatic?”

“I don’t do well in the cold...trust me, if it were acceptable to just hibernate all winter, I absolutely would.”

“Well, I can’t have you sleeping through our date, now can I?” Damian teased without thinking. He didn’t even realize he’d called their outing as friends a date until he saw her bluebell eyes widen in surprise. He coughed awkwardly and held out his arm to her with feigned confidence. “Shall we go?”

Marinette nodded, her eyes filled with an emotion Damian couldn’t quite place. She looped her arm through his again and followed him down the street. They walked in silence until they arrived at a glass building that appeared to be closed already. Marinette glanced at the sign, which told her the building was the Wayne Botanical Gardens, which closed at 5:00 pm. She glanced at her phone to check the time and saw it was already almost 6:00.

“It’s already closed,” Marinette said, putting her phone back in her purse and taking a second to check on Tikki. Her poor kwami wasn’t faring any better with the cold weather than Marinette was. She wished she had thought to bring some hand warmers or something for her… “Damian, what are you doing?”

“I’m getting us inside,” he said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. He pulled out a small pouch from his pocket and took two thin silver tools out of it before setting to work picking the lock. Marinette’s jaw dropped.

“Damian!” she hissed, scandalized. “We can’t pick the lock! I don’t know what you call this here in America, but in France we call this breaking and entering and it is illegal! We’re going to get in trouble!”

“Relax, Angel. My brother works at Wayne Enterprises, remember? It’ll be fine.”

“We could get him in trouble! He could lose his job!”

“Trust me, Angel, this is nothing compared to the trouble Dick gets himself into. It’ll be fine,” Damian promised. Two seconds later, Marinette heard the lock click and the door swung open. Damian put his lockpick away and stood up. “After you.”

“Damian,” Marinette said, shooting him a determined look as she refused to budge from where she stood. She wasn’t really succeeding at standing perfectly still since she was still shivering—his jacket was doing absolutely nothing to keep her warm and she was very concerned as to how it could possibly have been keeping him warm—but she thought she was being serious enough. “Promise me that no one will get in trouble for this.”

“I swear, Angel. Now, can we please go inside? I can’t promise it’ll be warmer but at least you’ll be sheltered from the wind and maybe that’ll stop you from shivering,” Damian said, reaching out his hand for her to take. She frowned and rested her hand on her purse momentarily before taking his hand and allowing him to lead her inside.

Damian smiled victoriously and flipped on the lights. He turned back to Marinette just in time to see her eyes light up the way he had hoped they would. She pulled out her sketchbook and a pencil with a look of awe and determination and began to jot down a few ideas. He couldn’t resist the urge to glance over her shoulder and saw she was sketching out ideas for what looked like a jacket.

“Fashion designer, huh?” Damian asked. “When you mentioned showing me your designs, I wasn’t sure what you meant.”

“Huh?” Marinette murmured, clearly distracted. A few seconds later her head shot up to look at him as she processed what he had said, then she blushed and turned back to her sketchbook. “Oh! Um, yeah...I want to go into fashion when I’m older. I’ve been designing for a few years and I actually make almost all of my own clothes.”

“Really?” Damian took that moment to check out her outfit...or pretended to be checking out her outfit. Most of it was actually hidden under his jacket, he remembered it well enough to realize he never would have noticed it wasn’t professionally made, and while he wouldn’t describe himself as a fashion expert, he knew he’s seen enough shabby or poorly crafted clothing to be able to tell the difference at a glance.

“Yeah...I, um, I’ve even won a couple of design contests back in Paris, and both Gabriel Agreste and Audrey Bourgeois have complimented my work…” she trailed off, though whether it was out of self-consciousness or getting distracted by her sketching again, Damian couldn’t tell.

“Impressive,” he complimented. Even though Damian didn’t know much about fashion, he did know the Agreste brand and he had met Madame Bourgeois at a couple of his father’s charity events when she still lived in New York.

Marinette didn’t respond, and an almost awkward silence hung in the air between them. Damian became restless after a few moments and began to pace. As he walked past one of the windows he noticed a very conspicuous shadow on a nearby rooftop and cursed silently.

_Please, please, please don’t ruin this for me…if Batman interrupts this date I definitely won’t get another one..._

He pulled out his phone and sent Dick a quick text telling him that if he was in the Batsuit he needed to back off, and to call their father if he wasn’t.

“So, how do you know how to pick locks?” Marinette finally asked, distracting him from his phone. He quickly put it away and turned his attention back to her.

“Would you believe me if I told you I learned it so I could impress cute girls?” he asked, turning up the charm. She laughed softly, and the sound made his heart beat faster.

“Has it ever worked?” she asked, glancing up at him from her sketchbook.

“You tell me,” he turned back on her, the implication clear. He was rewarded by another blush blooming on her cheeks that she tried to hide by ducking back into her book.

“...yes,” she eventually muttered. She took a breath to compose herself, and turned her full attention to him so he could see her beautiful eyes. “But how do I know you aren’t a criminal?”

“Are you wary of me, Marinette?”

“Should I be?”

“I swear I would never hurt you, but I would understand if you were worried I might. Gotham has a reputation, or a curse, if you believe the old legends, but I wasn’t born in Gotham. I just want to see you happy. It’s why I brought you here. I thought the flowers and the peace and quiet would make you happy.” 

Marinette smiled at him as she closed her sketchbook, and before he knew what was happening, her arms had wrapped around his middle in a tight hug. He blushed brightly and hugged her back. It took a few moments before he realized she was trembling.

“Angel? Are you okay?”

“...I’m still cold…” Marinette admitted.

“I should probably get you back to the hotel, then?” Damian asked, hiding his shock.

_How the hell is she still cold? It’s not cold out at all...could she be anemic?_

“That might be for the best...I’m sorry to cut tonight short,” she said. Damian smiled softly.

“Don’t be sorry. Your trip won’t end for another few days, right? Let me know what you’re doing tomorrow and I’ll crash your tour so I can whisk you to safety if you need a hero,” he promised. Marinette giggled at his hero comment.

“It’s a date, then,” she said shyly. 

Damian’s smile only brightened and he lead them out of the garden, turning off the lights and locking the door behind them. They turned to head back down the street towards Marinette’s hotel, but they didn’t get very far before they heard a noise behind them. Marinette spun around to see who it was immediately, but Damian was slower. He had to school his irritated expression into a more neutral one so he wouldn’t accidentally blow his identity.

“You kids do know that breaking and entering is illegal, right?” a gruff voice asked. Damian glared at his father, who—if the smug expression he was trying to hide was any indication—had already been fully caught up to situation by Dick. They would have to have a serious family meeting regarding identities and not intimidating potential girlfriends before anything can actually happen.

“Damian! You promised we wouldn’t get caught!” Marinette hissed.

“It’s fine, Angel. Don’t worry,” Damian said. He didn’t even consider how his father would react to hearing him call Marinette “Angel.”

“You thought an after-hours date in the botanical garden would be romantic, Damian?” Batman asked, and Damian couldn’t tell if he was more amused or impressed. Damian just kind of shrugged, desperate for the conversation to end before his father could accidentally—or intentionally—embarrass him. It was quiet for a minute, before Batman smiled. “Well, I won’t interfere with young love this time. But next time you two go on a date, go somewhere that’s open.”

“Yes, sir,” Marinette said, tugging on Damian’s arm to leave. Batman shot him a pointed look before he could turn around.

“Make sure you get her home safe.”

“Of course, I will.”

“Good.”

And with that, Batman disappeared back into the night. Damian glared in the general direction he had vanished into in annoyance, before walking Marinette to the hotel.


	2. A Little Misunderstanding

A little over an hour after Damian dropped her off at her hotel room, Marinette and Tikki were both warm again. It had taken a hot bath, some cookies, and a trip down to the hotel gift shop so Marinette could buy a new hoodie to wear under her, or more accurately Damian’s, jacket, but they were warm again. And true to form, Marinette had a plan.

“Okay, Tikki. According to google maps, there’s a fabric shop open not too far from here. It’s dark enough that if we transform and stick to the alleys and rooftops, we shouldn’t be seen by anyone, and if we hurry we should only have to be transformed for a few minutes at a time so we won’t get too cold,” Marinette said, zipping up the jacket before opening the window.

“I think making Damian this jacket is a really nice gesture, Marinette! It’s so cold in Gotham, I’m sure he’ll appreciate it!” Tikki said, finishing one last cookie before flying over to her. “And using the jacket he left you to estimate the measurements you need was so creative!”

“Thanks, Tikki! I’m really proud of the design...I think it’ll look really good, I just hope I can actually get it done tonight.”

“I’ll help you! With both of us working on it together, I’m sure we can get it done!”

“Then we have a plan! Tikki, spots on!”

A flash of pink light filled the hotel room and Ladybug jumped through the window. She hooked her yo-yo around a conveniently placed gargoyle and made her way to the fabric store. Thanks to this city’s overabundance of gargoyles, she made it to the fabric store even faster than she had expected. She dropped down into an alleyway and dropped her transformation before running in to get the fabric she needed.

~*~*~*~

“So, how was your date?” a voice asked as soon as Damian walked into the manor. He turned towards the source with an unimpressed look.

“It might have ended better if you had done as I asked and stopped Father from interrupting us, Dick, but it went fine otherwise,” Damian said curtly. His older brother chuckled.

“Sorry, Damian. I really did tell him to leave you two alone, but you set off the silent alarm when you broke into the gardens. He went to investigate and had already made up his mind before I called,” Dick said, his tone revealing he was not at all sorry for the turn of events. Damian rolled his eyes and turned to go to his room so he could change for patrol. He wanted to check on Marinette while he was out, to make sure she had warmed up properly and was feeling better, or at least sleeping.

“What’s this I heard about the demon spawn going on a date?” Jason asked as he and Tim walked directly into Damian’s path.

“You’re in my way, imbecile. We have patrol tonight. I have to change,” Damian snapped.

“Relax, little bird. We have plenty of time before we have to be ready for patrol,” Jason waved off, then looked at Damian with a curious glint in his eyes. “Unless you’re planning on using the suit to go visit her again?”

Damian’s glare was all the answer his brothers needed.

“Awwwwww,” Dick cooed as he tried not to laugh.

“Does she know your identity? Do you even know enough about her to take that risk?” Tim asked, ever the logical one of the group.

“I just want to check on her. She seemed unwell when I dropped her off. She was freezing even though it’s hardly cold out, and she almost seemed sleepy or sluggish by the time I got her back to the hotel,” Damian said. He was focusing on glaring at his brothers to fight the blush that threatened to crop up due to their teasing.

“Maybe she’s anemic,” Tim suggested. Damian shook his head.

“According to her medical records, she’s perfectly healthy. No signs of anemia, or anything else that could cause her to be so cold she was shivering even after I gave her my jacket,” Damian said.

“Did you hack her medical records?” Dick and Tim asked, appalled, just as Jason teased, “Aw, you gave her your jacket?”

“Yes? I was worried,” Damian said as if that was the most logical answer in the world. “I’m a detective, Dick, it’s my job to gather information on people?”

“Yes, Damian, I understand that. But there are things called boundaries, and you usually do not cross them with people you are interested in dating because if they find out, they may not appreciate the gesture,” Dick said. “I know you care for her but she may value her privacy.”

“Dick, how many times have we met people who later tried to kill us? Or have you forgotten Father’s encounter with my mother?” Damian pointed out. “I was running a background check on her anyway, along with ones for her classmates. The only one I’ve been having trouble finding is a girl she mentioned named Tikki...I can’t find any record of her enrollment at their school or even online. It’s as if she doesn’t exist.”

“Maybe it’s a nickname?” Dick suggested. “She didn’t strike me as the type of person to lie about something like that.”

“Maybe, but what could Tikki be a nickname for?”

“Tikki?” Alfred asked as he rounded a corner with Bruce. “Master Damian, who was telling you about someone named Tikki?”

“The girl Damian was on a date with tonight,” Jason said before Damian could answer.

“The girl you broke into the garden with and called Angel?” Bruce asked. He kept his expression carefully neutral, but his eyes clearly betrayed his amusement.

“Angel?” Jason asked. “Aw, baby bird...you’re so far gone for her and you hardly even know her.”

“Shut up, Todd. No one asked you,” Damian snapped.

“You’ve known her what, two days? Less than that? And you’re already calling her Angel and taking her on dates in private gardens and trying to check on her on your patrols? When did you get sucked into a Disney movie?” Jason teased.

“Jason Todd, I swear if you say one more word, I will kick your ass,” Damian threatened. Jason laughed and put his hands up in mock surrender.

“You should bring her over for dinner,” Dick suggested. “Since you’ve gone through the effort to cheer her up and keep her away from her class and all of their talk about akumas and everything, why not bring her over so we can see how far gone you really are?”

“Akumas?” Alfred asked, frowning.

“Yeah, actually, do you know anything about that word? All I’ve been able to find about it online so far is that it’s a Japanese word meaning a malevolent fire spirit and some teen blog about magical Parisian superheroes that reads more like a creative piece than anything else,” Dick said, turning to Alfred. 

“What do you mean, magical superheroes?” Bruce asked. “If there were magical superheroes in Paris, the League would know.”

“That’s what I thought, so I didn’t pay much attention to the blog,” Dick explained. “I did read through a couple of posts, though. Apparently they have this whole good-luck, bad-luck, yin yang theme going for them and they’re fighting a mysterious villain with evil butterflies that turn people into monsters.”

“That’s absurd,” Damian said.

“Completely absurd,” Tim agreed.

“What is this blog called?” Alfred asked.

“The Ladyblog,” Dick said. “It looks like it’s run by a girl named Alya Cesaire.”

“Oh, she’s in Marinette’s class,” Damian piped up, looking confused. “According to the information I found on her, she wants to be a reporter. The Ladyblog is the main thing she’s known for.”

“Are you sure you read that right? Because there’s no way the Ladyblog stuff is true...we would know about it,” Dick said. “She’s been posting stuff for at least a few years at this point. There’s no way they could keep something like that a secret. Maybe you translated it from French wrong and she’s a creative writer?”

“Doubtful,” Damian deadpanned.

“Is it possible there’s a gang in Paris that calls themselves akumas? I overheard a few of them mentioning getting akumatized, which I’m assuming means turned into akumas...maybe this gang has been recruiting recently?” Dick suggested. “If that’s been happening for a few years...maybe the Ladyblog is a way for people to deal with it? Turning the real gang into a fake magical monster where they have someone to save them or keep them from being targeted?”

“If that’s the case...Marinette has been targeted six times,” Damian said. “Or targeted but not recruited perhaps? She said she was almost akumatized…”

“Damian, does she know you’re a Wayne?” Tim asked.

“No. She’s made no indication that she knows and she seemed appropriately nervous to be ‘breaking in’ to the Wayne gardens,” Damian said, putting air quotes around breaking in. “And I highly doubt she knows I’m Robin. I met her as Robin the other night when she got lost and when I met her the next day, she didn’t recognize me.”

“I will do more research into the girl and these akumas while you lot are out on patrol tonight,” Alfred interrupted, “which will start late unless you get a move on. You said her name was Marinette?”

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” Damian confirmed.

“Then I will look into it for you,” Alfred promised. “Oh, and do make sure to invite her for dinner tomorrow. If she cares for you as much as you care for her, she should probably meet the Wayne Family while she still has a chance to leave.”

“Fine,” Damian said. He turned to leave then turned back to Bruce. “What will the dress code be?”

“Just tell her to come as she is, Damian. It’s a family dinner, not a charity gala,” Bruce said, frowning. Damian rolled his eyes.

“She’s a fashion designer, Father. She’s going to ask,” Damian said. “I don’t want her to feel under or over dressed because she won’t be comfortable otherwise.”

“Then tell her to wear whatever she’s comfortable in,” Bruce suggested. “And if she says she didn’t bring anything with her on this class trip, offer to take her shopping or something. But I repeat, it’s a _family dinner_ , Damian. We just want to meet her.”

“No, you want to embarrass me,” Damian said before stalking off to change for patrol.

“Maybe that too,” Bruce admitted with a fond smile. Alfred shook his head disapprovingly.

“Master Bruce, I understand the urge to embarrass your son in front of his crush, but perhaps you should go easy on them? A designer suit can be just as intimidating as your Batman suit, especially considering yours are lined with Kevlar,” Alfred pointed out.

“I’m joking, Alfred. I won’t embarrass Damian any more than you used to embarrass me,” Bruce promised, then left to go get changed back into his suit for patrol.

“That’s what I’m worried about, sir,” Alfred said bluntly before making his way to the Batcave to manage the comms and use the computer for his research. If this girl was who he was afraid she was…

~*~*~*~

They had split up for patrol, as usual, so they could cover more ground. Batman had gone off on his own, the Reds had teamed up with each other, and Nightwing and Robin were patrolling together. Nightwing was currently trying to give Robin dating advice with the others piping up over the comms with their own terrible advice.

“Have you been thinking about getting a dog with her? You should probably be thinking about that, especially with how much you love animals.”

“Have you technically asked her out yet? I know you were on a date with her, but was that a date date or was it a ‘technically just two friends hanging out because no one actually piped up and said they wanted it to be a date’ date? Because if it’s the latter, you need to get a bunch of limes and—”

“Who uses citrus to ask people out?”

“It’s about the pun! Her reaction to you asking her out with a pun will set the tone forever!”

“This is why you’re single.”

“It is not! It’s good advice!”

“Okay, ignoring Red Hood for a minute, are we sure she isn’t a lizard in disguise? You said she didn’t react well to the cold...don’t lizards get cold when it’s cold out?”

“Tim, what the actual fuck?”

“Hey! Code names while on comms!”

“No, stupid questions deserve real name responses.”

“Just write your number on a potato and roll it towards her!”

“No, no, no, tell her you’re like 60% water! Everyone loves water! She’ll have to go out with you then!”

“I’m never having grandchildren, am I?” Batman muttered into the comms, almost totally unheard over his sons’ bickering.

“I am not letting you guys meet her,” Damian said, glaring at his older brother who was having far too much fun with this. He noticed the route they had taken was just a block away from Marinette’s hotel, so he swerved off course and headed to check on her.

The first thing he noticed as he got closer was that the light in the window of her room was still on. For a second he thought he may have gotten the wrong room number, but he distinctly remembered seeing the number when he walked her up to her room after their date. He recounted the floors to double check, but he was positive it was the right room. He frowned and went over, wanting to see why she was still awake, or if she had passed out before turning off the light, or if she needed help.

The second thing he noticed was that her window was open, which made a pang of dread strike his heart. There was no reason for her to have her window open, not with how cold she was...she should have kept the window shut tightly and curled up in a pile of blankets to warm up. He swung directly over to the window, hoping he was just being paranoid.

Her room was empty.

Well, not empty. Her suitcase was at the foot of the bed, lid open and some clothes strewn about. Her bed was unmade, and a cup of tea sat abandoned on the nightstand, long since gone cold. There was also a plate of what looked like cookie crumbs, and a towel abandoned on the bathroom floor. But to Damian, the room was empty because she wasn’t there. Marinette, his Angel, was gone, but the door was locked with the deadbolt like he had told her to do, so clearly she had gone out the window.

From the 10th floor window.

“She’s not in her hotel room,” Damian said into his comms. The uncharacteristically panicked tone shut up his brothers’ idiotic rambling. “The window is open and she’s not inside and the door is still locked. We need to find her.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like the boys' dating advice, I literally looked up horrible dating advice and went to [this website](https://guff.com/hilarious-dating-advice-from-the-internet) and just went down the line for inspiration. XD


	3. Meeting the Family, Take 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette meets Nightwing, Red Robin, and Red Hood, and things get a bit rocky.

“I shouldn’t have gone out with her! Someone must have seen us...I was careful to not be followed but I must not have been careful enough!” Robin yelled, punching the bed in frustration. Nightwing swung into the room and grabbed his arm.

“You need to calm down,” Nightwing hissed. Robin jerked his arm out of his brother’s grasp.

“Don’t tell me to calm down! Villains in Gotham don’t hold back and you know it! If one of them grabbed her…”

“I’m not telling you not to worry, Robin. I’m just telling you that yelling in a hotel where her classmates could be trying to sleep next door is a bad idea if we don’t want people to panic,” Nightwing said. “If you want to yell at us, do it on the rooftops while we look for her.”

“Nightwing is right,” Batman said. “This may not even be the work of one of Gotham’s villains. You boys were talking about Paris potentially having a gang that her classmates may be a part of that’s been targeting her, so maybe one of them are responsible for this. If they are involved, we really can’t have them interrupting us or we may never find her. Now get out of the hotel room and start looking.”

“Yes, Father,” Robin grumbled before swinging out of the hotel room. Nightwing followed right behind him.

“Alfred, has there been any noticeable villain activity tonight? Has anyone broken out of Arkham that we should know about?”

“No, Master Dick. So far everything has been quiet.”

“So it’s either someone who wasn’t held in Arkham or whoever grabbed her isn’t from Gotham,” Batman said. “Red Hood, Red Robin, go join Nightwing and Robin in searching around the hotel. If a gang grabbed her they may not have gotten very far, at least not without being noticed.”

“On it,” Red Robin said.

“Good. I’ll search further away just in case. Alfred, would you check any surveillance footage to see if you can see where she went?”

“Of course, sir.”

“If they hurt her…” Robin muttered, his hand twitching towards his sword as his brothers arrived to help.

“We’ll find her, Robin. I promise,” Nightwing said.

Robin clenched his jaw, then took a deep breath and swung off the roof to begin searching. They swept the area together, deciding having four sets of eyes scanning windows and alleys was better than if they had split up to search on their own. Finally, they noticed a girl with pigtails wearing a jacket that was clearly too large for her exit a fabric store with a bag in her hand. Her back was to them, but as soon as he saw her, Robin sighed in relief.

“There she is,” Robin said, swinging down from the roof and landing behind her.

~*~*~*~

Marinette had found the exact fabric she was looking for from the shop, and bought what she thought she needed. She actually got a little more than she thought she would need just in case she had gotten the measurements wrong and needed to adjust it, but she figured she could make a pouch for Tikki and maybe a scarf or gloves or something with the rest. She walked out of the store, humming happily as she went over the design idea she had planned and headed to an alley to transform.

Suddenly, a hand brushed against her earring from behind her.

“Aiya,” she gasped, her body switching into fight or flight mode. Her instincts kicked in, making her drop the bag of fabric and grab the offending hand. She then flipped the stranger over her shoulder in one fluid motion. He hit the ground hard, but Marinette wasn’t paying attention to that.

All she could feel was the ghost of his fingers brushing her earring and all she could see was a mask covering his eyes. Her hands were trembling, one reaching up to touch the earring he had gone for and the other securely grabbing the purse that Tikki was hiding in.

_He knows who I am,_ Marinette thought in her panic. _Hawkmoth knows who I am, and he sent an akuma to Gotham to get my earrings._

Without waiting another second, she turned and ran down the street, looking for an alley that was safe enough for her to transform.

~*~*~*~

Nightwing, Red Robin, and Red Hood decided not to join Robin while he confronted Marinette. She didn’t seem like she was in any danger, but they all thought it would be better for Robin to talk to her alone. They didn’t want to intimidate her, after all. Instead of watching Robin talk to his girlfriend, however, they got front row seats to see their brother—who had spent the first ten years of his life training to be an assassin and the rest of his life since training to be a superhero—get thrown on his ass by a girl who, by the most generous of estimates, probably weighed 90 lbs soaking wet.

“Where the hell did that come from?” Nightwing asked, almost missing Robin’s pained groan. “What did you do to her?”

“He set off her PTSD, I think,” Red Hood spoke up. “Her hands are shaking, and she looks terrified. She must have some kind of self-defense training, too, because she’s clearly done that move several times with how smooth it was...especially considering she took out Robin with it.”

“Why does she have PTSD?” Red Robin asked just as Marinette turned and ran off down the street at full speed.

“I have no clue, but we should stop her before she gets lost and runs into someone worse than our brother,” Nightwing said, swinging off the rooftop with Red Robin hot on his heels.

“Someone worse than demon spawn? I didn’t think that was possible,” Red Hood said as he followed his brothers. He heard a weak “Fuck off, Todd,” over the comms just as they landed on the sidewalk, effectively cutting off Marinette’s path. She skidded to a stop, and they could clearly see the panic in her eyes.

“Trois, non, quatre akumas? Ou sont-ils ses sbires?” she whispered, backing away from them slowly. She was scanning them as if she was looking for a weak point or a way to escape.

“Were those real words? They sounded fake,” Red Hood asked quietly.

“That was French, dumbass. She’s from France, she clearly speaks French,” Red Robin hissed back. “I didn’t catch what she said but I did hear that akuma word again...does she think we’re part of the gang?”

“Whatever she thinks, we need to calm her down,” Nightwing said.

“I got this,” Red Hood said, stepping closer to her. She took another step back and her back hit the wall behind her, so she crouched down to make herself seem smaller. “Hey, princess, we’re not—”

Red Hood was cut off as her fist collided with his helmet. He hit the ground and Marinette stood up to run again, dropping the rock she had grabbed without them noticing. Nightwing reached out and grabbed her wrist to stop her, throwing caution to the wind now that she had managed to take down two of his brothers. She started to struggle against him, but he refused to let her go. Not when he thought she was clearly in a state where she could hurt whoever was in her path.

“Hey, hey!” he said sharply as he grabbed her other wrist. She finally turned her attention to him, and the pure fear in her eyes threw him off guard. He loosened his grip without letting go, and lowered his voice to sound more soothing. “You need to calm down. We’re trying to help you.”

“You…” she started, trailing off as she tried to catch her breath, “you don’t want my earrings?”

“No. We just wanted to know why you were out so late,” Nightwing said, crouching down to be closer to her eye level. “Gotham isn’t a safe city. We were just trying to make sure you weren’t in danger.”

Marinette eyed him warily. Nightwing waited patiently as her breathing evened out, and suddenly her eyes widened in shock.

“Oh, my god...you’re Gotham’s heroes...I just hit one of Gotham’s heroes…” she whispered. 

“Technically, you hit two of them,” Nightwing said as he finally let go of her wrists, and she covered her mouth with a horrified expression. “You also flipped Robin over your shoulder.”

“I’m so sorry...I didn’t mean to, I swear, I just wasn’t thinking and he touched my earring and—”

“It’s okay, you didn’t do any harm. You were just scared. What’s your name?” Nightwing asked, glancing over to see Red Robin poking Red Hood with the toe of his boot. Red Hood groaned and swatted his brother’s foot away. _Well, she didn’t do much harm...at least she hit the one of us who was wearing a helmet._

“Marinette…my name is Marinette,” she said.

“Okay, Marinette. We’ll help you get back to your hotel. It’s not far,” Nightwing said, helping her up.

“No, no you don’t have to help, really. I remember the way back—”

“With all due respect, little lady,” Red Robin piped up, “you just took down two men who are significantly larger than you while in the middle of what seemed like a panic attack. We’d all just feel better if we knew you were safe.”

“Thank you,” she said, an almost embarrassed relief on her face. “Um, Robin helped me get there the other—oh shoot, you said Robin was the one I flipped...is he okay? I should go check and I left my bag there and—”

“I’m perfectly fine, Marinette,” Robin said, walking over with the bag of fabric she’d dropped. He had a small, almost impressed smile as he approached her and handed her the bag. “A little winded, perhaps, but I’ll live. Can I get you back to the hotel, now?”

“Think you can handle her?” Nightwing asked. He stepped back to give them space while Robin glared at him, and then helped Red Robin peel Red Hood off of the sidewalk.

“I think I can manage,” Robin said.

“In that case, we’ll finish patrol and fill Batman in on what happened here,” Nightwing said. Marinette squeaked and covered her face again. “What’s wrong?”

“Batman is going to think I’m some kind of public menace,” she whined, still covering her face. Nightwing resisted the urge to laugh.

“Oh? And why would he think that?”

“I was on a date with a guy earlier tonight and we kind of broke into the Wayne Botanical Gardens...Batman caught us when we were leaving. I don’t think he was mad at us because he actually smiled before leaving us alone but I really don’t want to be put on a ‘do not let back into the country’ list.”

“Does this guy have a name?” Red Hood asked. Marinette blushed.

“Damian...never told me his last name,” she said, her eyes widening slightly. “I just met him the other day and he met my classmates and we went out because he wanted to cheer me up but I don’t know his last name and maybe I shouldn’t have assumed it was an actual date…”

“We’re going to let Robin get you home,” Red Robin said before any of the others could tease her and Damian further. They checked to make sure Red Hood was fine to leave before swinging off to finish patrolling. Robin held his arm out to Marinette.

“Shall we, beautiful?” he asked. Marinette blushed and took his hand. He pulled her in against him and scooped her up, causing her to squeak and wrap her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. He chuckled at her reaction. “You’re not afraid of heights, are you?”

“Not at all,” she said with a growing smile. She adjusted her grip and he felt her fabric bag bump against his back.

“Good. Then hold on,” he said, giving her no other warning before he shot his grappling hook around a gargoyle and swung off. 

Marinette shrieked at the sudden movement and buried her face in Robin’s shoulder. She wasn’t afraid of heights, but she also wasn’t used to this feeling of weightlessness without Tikki’s magic protecting her. Chat had carried her away from akuma fights and over rooftops as Marinette a couple of times before, but there was a distinct difference in the falling sensation from vaulting and the almost flying experience swinging through the air provided.

“Dammit, Damian, adjust your comm volume before you do stuff like that!” Nightwing’s voice crackled through the comm in Robin’s ear, which happened to be right next to her ear too, and Marinette froze. Robin, Damian, didn’t seem to notice, so Marinette decided not to make a big deal about the new information. It wasn’t like she didn’t know plenty of people who moonlighted as superheroes, herself included. Now she just had to decide if and how to tell him she knew...but that was a problem she decided could wait until she saw him again the next day.

In the meantime, she was just going to enjoy the ride. She lifted her head off his shoulder to look out at the city they were flying over, appreciating just how different it was from Paris. For all Damian insisted Gotham was dangerous, she felt safer there than she had in years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the record, I do not speak French, so I used Google Translate for Marinette's French line. It's supposed to say, "Three, no, four akumas? Or are they its minions?" I apologize for any errors, lol. Also Jason's line ("Were those real words?") came from me looking at the word "sbires" and not having the first idea of how to pronounce it. It doesn't look like a real word to me, lol, but I hope I didn't offend anyone. That was not my intent. <3
> 
> One more note, "aiya" is a Chinese word used to express surprise, amazement, shock, or disappointment. It's a very versatile word and I use it a lot so it felt right for Marinette to use it here. In this AU, she's more in touch with her Chinese heritage than she is in canon, and actually has learned to speak some Mandarin. I haven't done much to show it yet, but I'm going to include some personal headcanons in later chapters so look out for those. :)
> 
> I hope I did this chapter justice (namely with Marinette's little PTSD episode), so let me know what y'all think! I have at least two more chapters planned, but it could very well turn into more if they get too long or I want to spend extra time on anything.


	4. Here Lies Damian's Love Life

Despite taking the scenic route back to the hotel, Robin had still arrived at the hotel too soon. He swung up into her still-open window and set her down safely inside her room. Marinette looked up at him with the brightest smile he’d ever seen.

“That was amazing,” she said breathlessly, putting her bag on the bed and hugging him tightly. “Thank you!”

“Oh, um,” Robin coughed awkwardly, suddenly feeling his face heat up, “you’re welcome. I, uh, guess you’ll want to be getting to sleep soon? It’s pretty late.”

“I wasn’t actually planning on going to sleep for a while,” Marinette admitted as she pulled away from him. “I have a project I wanted to get done tonight, and after what just happened, I’m not really sure I’d be able to sleep much anyway…”

“What project?”

“I’m making Damian a new jacket. He gave me his tonight, but it doesn’t provide any warmth at all and I’m worried about him being cold, so I went out to buy some fabric to make him a new jacket.”

“Awwwww,” Dick, Jason, and Tim all cooed in Robin’s ear. He resisted the urge to scowl at them by smiling at Marinette instead.

“Do you have the stuff you need?”

“I have my emergency sewing kit and scissors in my luggage, and I used his jacket to figure out his measurements, but would you mind if I double checked his measurements against yours? I think you two are roughly the same size,” Marinette asked. She grabbed her tape measure from her desk and held it up to him.

“What if we aren’t the same size?” Robin asked. “How can you tell we are?”

“I’ve been told I have a good eye for stuff like that. I can usually guess measurements just by sight, so I guess you could call it designer’s intuition,” Marinette said, shrugging out of Damian’s jacket and holding it out to him, “but if you don’t believe me you can try on his jacket to see how it fits.”

“I think I’ll take your word for it,” Robin said, taking his jacket and laying it on her bed. “How does this work?”

“I’ll show you,” Marinette said. She stepped closer to Robin, her fingers trailing up to the clasp of his cape. She paused there, looking up at him as if asking for permission. “May I? It’ll be easier to take your measurements if the cape isn’t in the way.”

Robin swallowed and nodded stiffly, doing his best to ignore the snickering of his eavesdropping older brothers. Marinette smiled and undid the clasp, taking it off him and placing it on the bed with the utmost respect. What he didn’t notice was the little, red kwami taking advantage of his distraction by zipping out of Marinette’s purse and into her suitcase.

“Okay, now raise your arms like this,” she said as she stepped up behind him and lifted his arms to where she wanted them. She reached around him and wrapped the measuring tape around his chest, then held it in place as she walked around him to check the number. She hummed when she saw it. “This is a little bit bigger than what I estimated from the jacket...though it makes sense if your suit is padded. Kevlar?”

“How’d you guess?”

“It makes sense for a hero without magic or powers protecting them to use some kind of bulletproofing,” Marinette explained. Robin frowned.

“And how do you know I don’t have powers?” he asked. _Does she know more than she's letting on?_

“Well, you can’t fly, otherwise we wouldn’t have been swinging through the city to get here, and training or not, I doubt I would have been able to flip a superpowered hero over my shoulder as easily as I did,” Marinette said matter-of-factly. “Unless you want to tell me this suit is part of a magic transformation and the cape is a removable accessory.”

“Fair enough. Yes, there’s some Kevlar padding in the suit, but not very much,” Robin said. “Most of this is muscle.”

“Quit peacocking, Robin, she’ll see right through you,” Tim said. “We all know exactly how much padding is in that suit.”

“Either way, it would be enough to change your measurements,” Marinette said with an amused smile. She turned her attention back to taking his measurements, not shying away from letting her fingers trail along his suit. Eventually she ended up behind him again. “Okay, now I just need to measure your wingspan...pun totally intended.”

Robin smiled at her joke and the little giggle that accompanied it, but otherwise stood as still as possible while she measured him. Over the comms, Jason cheered victoriously.

“I told you using a pun to ask her out would have worked! You’d better marry this girl, demon spawn, or I will.”

Robin was about to retort when Marinette stepped away to write down the last measurement.

“Okay, I think that should do it...do you have to head back to your, is Batman your boss?” Marinette asked. 

“My father, actually,” Robin admitted, causing Tim to swear over the comms. Marinette’s eyes widened. “What?”

“He knows your identity, then? What about the others?”

“They’re my brothers. We keep our identities secret from everyone else, but we don’t hide them from each other. That would be counterproductive.”

“What if you were ever controlled by a supervillain, though? They could find out your identities and use them against you…or if someone saw you take off your mask, wouldn’t it put your family at risk?”

“Where are these questions coming from?” Dick asked, concerned.

“Robin, make sure you know what you’re doing,” Bruce cautioned.

“If that were to happen, they would be at risk anyway. At least if we know each other’s identities, we can warn each other and trust that they can defend themselves. I suppose if we weren’t family, that would be a different set of circumstances and perhaps we would hide our identities, but it still seems to be more of a risk to hide from your partner than an asset.”

“I can think of a few reasons hiding your identity is a better choice…” Marinette said, her voice so soft Robin almost didn’t catch it. She ducked around him and pulled her scissors, needles, thread, and a red-and-black spotted sewing machine out of her suitcase. She set up her workspace on the hotel desk and started measuring out the fabric she would actually use from her bag.

“You really come prepared, don’t you?” Robin asked. “I’ve never heard of anyone traveling with a sewing machine before.”

“Oh, I normally don’t, I just bring my emergency kit in case I need to make any repairs, but since I knew I would be rooming alone on this trip I brought it along in case I had an opportunity to use it and I’m really glad that I did,” Marinette explained quickly. Robin could tell her answer wasn’t completely honest, but since he couldn’t see any reason why anyone would lie about carrying around a sewing machine, he thought that maybe she thought he was implying he found her strange and was embarrassed.

“Oh. The spotted pattern is interesting. Do you like red and black?”

“Red is a lucky color in China, and the ladybug pattern is because my parents got it for me and thought that I could use all the luck I could get.”

“Should I call you a ladybug, then?” Robin asked, trying to be charming. The anxious, high pitched laugh from Marinette told him it had the opposite effect.

“I mean, I won’t stop you if you want to and some of my classmates used to call me Ladybug but that was a long time ago and they don’t seem to think of me that way anymore so…” Marinette trailed off, grabbing her scissors to start cutting fabric.

“Robin, you’re making her uncomfortable! Get it together before you scare her away!” Jason hissed at him.

“Why would calling her ladybug make her uncomfortable though?” Tim asked.

“The author of that Ladyblog site is in her class, maybe she put Marinette as the main character and switched inspiration after whatever caused their falling out? And she doesn’t like the memory of it?” Dick suggested.

“Perhaps it is something she doesn’t feel comfortable talking to a hero who is a stranger to her,” Alfred pointed out. “Just because she knows Master Damian and will likely open up to him does not mean she will open up to Robin. And after her reaction to Robin and Red Hood tonight, she may not be as comfortable around superheroes as you four want to believe. If she wants to discuss it, I suspect she will.”

“Marinette, would you prefer if I left you alone? You had a long night and I wouldn’t want to impose or overstay my welcome,” Robin asked. 

“No! No, I don’t mind if you stayed. In fact, once I get the fabric stitched together it would be nice to have a model to make sure it looks right,” Marinette said, blushing slightly. “Plus, I like your company. You're very calming.”

“Then I’ll stay,” Robin assured her, sitting down in an armchair near the window. Marinette turned and shot him a grateful smile before focusing on the fabric she was cutting.

~*~*~*~

“Alfred, did you find anything on this girl?” Bruce asked after taking out his comm. Alfred sighed and took his out as well.

“Nothing concrete, I’m afraid. Her parents run a bakery, her grades are among the highest in her class though her attendance seems to have suffered in the last few years, perhaps as a result of whatever rift came up between her and her classmates? She’s also very involved, serving as class president for three of the last four years, and she’s a very talented designer. I’ve seen her name connected with people such as Jagged Stone, Gabriel Agreste and Audrey Bourgeois, though those two aren’t really a surprise since Mr. Agreste’s son and Mrs. Bourgeois’s daughter are both in her class, and even a smaller rock band that’s gained a lot of popularity in the last few years called Kitty Section...from what I could find, there was a scandal a few years back involving the artist XY and his manager attempting to steal some of Miss Marinette’s intellectual property,” Alfred said. “I can’t figure out why she would have PTSD, though, or how she was able to take down Masters Damian and Jason.”

“She broke my helmet!” Jason called out from the other side of the room. “And not just a dent, there’s a huge crack in it! Do you know how much damage this helmet has taken already? It’s never cracked once!”

“Maybe it was weakened already and the rock she hit you with was what finally broke it? Or maybe she just hit you with a sharp part?” Tim suggested. “A girl that small? There’s no way she’s strong enough to break your helmet with just her own strength.”

“Maybe,” Jason grumbled. “Demon spawn’s girlfriend broke my favorite helmet though…”

“She was scared and cornered, Jason, she didn’t know what she was doing. You can get the helmet fixed or replaced easily enough,” Dick said. “We should be more worried about why that was her gut reaction when scared.”

Jason mumbled a response but didn’t say anything else about his helmet.

“Alfred, did you find anything about her taking self-defence courses?” Dick asked, walking over to the computer.

“I found a few martial arts courses she started taking a little over two years ago, but to reach the skill level she seems to have, she would have to be training in intense sparring or real combat scenarios almost daily for that entire time,” Alfred said.

“What the hell is going on in Paris?” Dick asked. “She shouldn’t be fighting that much.”

“All I can find is more stuff related to the Ladyblog, Master Dick, and since the League doesn’t seem to know about any superheroes in Paris…”

“We should ask her when she comes over for dinner tomorrow, then,” Bruce said. “Her firsthand account will be better than whatever nonsense we’ve found online, or she can explain it to us.”

“Very well, Master Bruce,” Alfred said.

_Young Miraculous holders are one thing, but by Duusuu, why such a young Ladybug? Who puts that kind of responsibility on a child?_

~*~*~*~

“Just one more row of stitches and the jacket should be done,” Marinette said after a little while. “I still need to embroider it and add some little details, but it should be done enough for you to try on?”

“Huh?” Robin asked, sitting up suddenly. He had been alternating between watching Marinette work and dozing off. Normally he would have stayed on high alert around new people, but he felt safe enough around Marinette to let his guard down. When he was more alert, he realized she had gotten up after he dozed off to drape his cape over him like a blanket. “You finished already?”

“Yeah, I think so. It may need some alterations and I still have to put in the details but it’s mostly done,” Marinette said. “Do you want to try it on? It would be really useful for me to see it on an actual person that it’s supposed to fit so I can get a head start on any potential alterations.”

“Are you sure you want me to try it on and not wait for the guy it’s actually meant for? You said even a little bit of padding could throw off the measurements,” Robin said.

“I don’t think Damian would mind you trying it on first,” Marinette said with a soft smile. “Besides, like I said, it’s not even the final design, just the shell. He’ll still be the first to see the finished product.”

“Oh, okay,” Robin said, standing up and walking over to her. She carefully slid the jacket out from under the sewing machine and helped him into it. It was a little snug over his suit but would probably be a perfect fit without it, but that wasn’t the part that really caught his attention. “It’s so warm!”

“That was the whole point, you know,” Marinette teased with a proud smile. “I was worried about Damian being cold here, so I decided to fix that problem. Do you think he’ll like it?”

“He’ll love it,” Robin said honestly, walking over to a mirror to get a proper look at it. It was a two-toned jacket, with the sides and sleeves of the jacket made from a fine grey wool and the middle of the jacket and the collar on the front and back and outside of the hood were made using fine black wool. The inside of the hood was lined in a smooth red material, and the inside of the rest of the jacket was lined in a soft black fabric. There were three pockets in the jacket, one on each side and an additional zippered breast pocket, all lined. Quality wise, he couldn’t tell the difference between this jacket and any of the professionally made designer jackets his father would buy him, and this one was better in his opinion because it was made specifically for him and it actually did what a proper jacket was meant to do. “It’s so much nicer than the one he loaned you tonight.”

“That’s kind of what I was going for,” Marinette said. She came over with a pin cushion and a few pins to check to see where any alterations might need to be made. She smoothed out the fabric and paid special attention to the shoulders and sleeves, making sure the length was right and that the sleeves were even, then came around to his front and double checked that the zipper was working right and lying flat on the fabric. She pulled up the hood and added a few pins to a part that wasn’t as smooth as she wanted it to be, then finally stepped back to admire her work. “I think that should do it.”

Robin was trying not to show how flustered he had gotten from her touching him. He wasn’t very physically affectionate, but he had to admit it felt nice...he didn’t realize he had zoned out while staring at her until one of his brothers cleared his throat over the comms.

“She asked you to take the jacket off, Romeo,” Dick prompted. “She wants to do some detailing on it before going to bed. That’s probably your cue to leave.”

“Oh, um, here,” Robin said, shaking his head to clear it. He unzipped the jacket carefully and let her help him slide it off, not wanting to rip it on accident and ruin her hard work. He turned to her with a sheepish smile. “I should probably get going…”

“Will you be okay?” Marinette asked. She folded the jacket over her arm and looked up at him with concerned blue eyes. “You said Gotham was too dangerous to be out alone at night, and your siblings must have gotten home from patrol hours ago.”

“I’ll be fine, Marinette. I’m great at being alone at night,” Robin assured her. Two seconds later his brain caught up with his words and he groaned. “I didn’t mean, that’s not—”

“Jesus, Damian, have you ever spoken to a girl before?” Dick asked, dropping his head in his hands.

“That’s it, they’re done. Here lies Damian’s love life, may it rest in fucking pieces!” Jason exclaimed. “There’s no way he’s coming back from that one.”

“We gave him so much advice earlier, and he goes and says that to the pretty girl who just spent hours making him a jacket,” Tim said. “It’s truly tragic.”

“I really am never having grandchildren,” Bruce sighed. “Just be glad she doesn’t know your identity yet and get out of there before you make it worse.”

“Marinette, I apologize, I really did not mean to say that,” Robin said, pulling his cape back around his shoulders. “I don’t know why I did.”

“It’s okay, Robin. I know you didn’t mean it like that,” Marinette assured him. “I can never say what I mean to, either. I understand, you don’t have to be embarrassed about it.”

“Damian, you marry her right now!” Jason practically yelled in his ear. Robin had to fight the urge to wince at the sudden change in volume. He didn’t want Marinette to know his brothers had been listening in on their conversation all night, and if he reacted he would have to tell her. “You’re never going to find anyone else who will let you off the hook that easily for something like that.”

“Thank you, Marinette,” Robin said, smiling at her. “I really should go, though. That way you can get your work done and go to sleep. Thank you for letting me stay as long as you did. I enjoyed watching you work.”

“Thank you for helping me get home tonight, and for not being upset with me for throwing you over my shoulder,” Marinette said. She raised up on her toes and pressed a feather-light kiss against his cheek.

Robin blushed and saluted awkwardly before exiting her room through her window. He didn’t go far, though, and instead found a perch nearby where he could still keep an eye on her. He promised himself he would just stay for a few minutes, to make sure she locked her window securely and then he would leave.

~*~*~*~

Marinette sighed as soon as he left, the events of the night finally catching up to her as she sat down heavily on the bed. She felt the tears she had been ignoring since Nightwing calmed her down flood her eyes, and her breathing became shaky and jagged. She pulled out her phone, staring down at a picture of her and her parents holding a tray of macaroons she had made.

“Tikki?” she called, her voice cracking unexpectedly. Her kwami was by her side in an instant.

“You’re okay, Marinette. I’m here,” Tikki soothed. “I didn’t go anywhere, and I won’t.”

“I thought...I thought they were akumas. I thought they were going to steal my earrings…”

“Hawkmoth isn’t powerful enough to send any akumas to Gotham, Marinette. Not unless he was physically here, which he clearly isn’t. You’re safe.”

“What happens if I’m not, Tikki? What if I fail?” Marinette sobbed. “What if I lose you, or if I get killed by an akuma? What about my parents?”

“What about your parents, Marinette?” Tikki asked. She suspected she knew, but she wanted to give Marinette a chance to explain it herself.

“Should I tell them about all of this? Would that put them in danger? Or would it make them safer? What if I tell them and they get akumatized and are sent after me?”

“Marinette, your circumstances are different to Robin’s. Anyone knowing who you are puts you more at risk. You are incredible, Marinette, and you’ve been fighting so hard for so long. I understand why you’re scared. The akumas have only gotten more dangerous over the years, and the number of repeat akumatizations has only risen. But that just makes it more important for you to protect your identity. I’m sorry, Marinette. This was never supposed to go on this long…”

Marinette broke down crying then while Tikki did her best to console her, both completely unaware of the boy who was perched just outside the window.

~*~*~*~

“We need to figure out what the hell has been happening in Paris, and we need to figure it out like 4 years ago,” Robin hissed into his comm.

“What did you hear? I thought you were leaving the hotel and on your way home already?” Bruce asked. “It’s late, Damian, and I know you have plans to join her on her trip activities in the morning.”

“I just wanted to stick around until she closed her window,” Robin said, swinging to a different rooftop so Marinette wouldn’t hear him. “I heard her crying and talking to that Tikki woman about it, and she sounded like a mentor or confidant or something but I still didn’t catch her real name. Marinette's afraid these akumas are going to kill her, Father. Whatever is happening with this gang, we have to help her. She’s isolated and alone and apparently her parents have no idea she’s even in any danger.”

“What the actual hell is happening in Paris?” Dick asked. “I’m starting to wonder if those Ladyblog reports are right…”

“You honestly think a guy with evil butterflies is trying to kill Marinette?” Tim asked incredulously. “That’s not logical, Dick, and we would have heard about it if that was the case!”

“Whatever is happening there, I think we should plan a trip to Paris soon so we can keep an eye on Marinette. She’s clearly in danger, and likely has been for a while now,” Bruce said. “That explains the PTSD from being snuck up on and backed into a corner, at least.”

“Master Damian, I think it would be best if you made your way home now. Miss Marinette will be okay until you see her tomorrow, especially if this Tikki person is someone she trusts and can calm her down,” Alfred said. “We can ask her more about it over dinner.”

“Alright, Alfred. I’m on my way now,” Robin said. He shot one last look to Marinette’s window before swinging off the roof towards the manor.


	5. A Robin and an Apple Blossom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette finishes Damian's jacket and gives it to him. Meanwhile, Tikki and Plagg discuss the recent developments.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's some Adrien salt in this chapter. Keep in mind, Adrien/Chat in this AU has left both Ladybug and Marinette to fend for themselves more often than not. His passiveness and unwillingness to work with Ladybug when she's rejecting him has only gotten worse between canon and now (which is three or four years later).

It took a little while for Marinette to finally calm down, but she felt better afterwards than she had in a really long time. She had been holding onto so many emotions for so long to keep from getting akumatized, and it was nice to be able to let them out. Her shoulders felt lighter, and as she got up to take a shower, she was able to talk things through with Tikki.

Adrien being Chat Noir the entire time was the first thing they talked about. Not only had Chat been neglecting his duties as a hero and her partner for years at this point, leaving Marinette to fight most akuma battles on her own or with emergency allies—something that was a problem all on its own since it meant she usually had to grab random people she only kind of trusted to join her—but he had been passive to the point of causing real pain in his civilian life. He had seriously let her down, both as someone she thought was a friend and as someone who she was meant to trust with her life, not to mention him harassing her and trying to force her to return his feelings. She and Tikki both agreed that when they got back to Paris, they would talk to Master Fu about finding her a new Chat Noir, or perhaps just retiring the Black Cat Miraculous and choosing a different hero to help her defeat Hawkmoth.

With that plan in mind, the conversation turned to Damian and his family. They were superheroes who, as far as Marinette could tell, took their jobs seriously and understood that secret identities were important. That was something Marinette respected, but now she had a dilemma: did she tell them she knew who they were? Or did she keep it a secret until they trusted her enough to tell her? And should she tell them hers? Because if she just came out and told them she was a superhero with a pair of magical earrings without them knowing she knows about them, they might get the wrong idea and think she’s reckless or immature for telling them such an important secret. But if she told them she knows who they are first, they might not trust her and will jump to conclusions after she managed to take two of them down without transforming...it wasn’t her fault that she found out because one of them had said Damian’s name when her ear was too close to his comm, but what if they thought she always knew and that she tried to be friends with Damian on purpose because she knew?

Surprisingly, knowing Batman was Damian’s father made him less intimidating. It was bizarre for her to see an adult be a superhero, but at least Batman knew Damian and hopefully wouldn’t be too upset with them for breaking into the garden.

“Marinette, if you trust them and you want to tell them the truth, I think you should,” Tikki said. “Your instincts are as good as any Ladybug I’ve ever had, and you’ve been training to be the next Guardian for years. Plus, I trust Damian. I think he’s a really good match for you, Marinette. I’ve never seen you so happy.”

“Thanks, Tikki,” Marinette said, pulling out a cookie to pass to her kwami. “Speaking of Damian, I still need to finish the embroidery on his jacket and add the extra pocket I didn’t want him to see tonight.”

“Do you need help?”

“I think I can manage. The sewing machine you summoned for me was a lifesaver though. I’m a fast sewer but there’s no way I would have finished the jacket as quickly as I did with a normal one, and it never would have gotten done with just the emergency kit I carry with me,” Marinette said. “I know you hate when I abuse Lucky Charm for personal gain, so thank you.”

“I don’t know that I consider this personal gain,” Tikki giggled. “You’re doing something good for someone else, and you needed a little help to succeed. Keeping Damian warm is just a different kind of heroics, in my opinion.”

“Where was this when I was drowning in commitments?” Marinette asked, trying and failing to not laugh. She sat down at the sewing machine with the patch of fabric she was going to embroider for the interior pocket and got to work. With Tikki’s creation magic in the sewing machine, Marinette had the jacket completed, alterations and all, with enough time to take a nap before having to face the class that day.

~*~*~*~

Plagg could sense Tikki’s distress. He could tell something had happened with her Chosen, but he didn’t know what. He flew up to the girl’s hotel room once Adrien fell asleep to investigate, only to find the room completely empty. He frowned at that.

_Where are they? There can’t be an akuma attack in Gotham...Nooroo’s power isn’t strong enough, not unless Hawkmoth followed us…_

Plagg waited in the room for a little while, getting more anxious the longer they were gone and the more anxious he could sense Tikki getting. He was tempted to go wake Adrien up and send him to find her, but that would open a whole new can of worms that Plagg was not interested in dealing with. With how Adrien had been treating Marinette despite Plagg trying to mentor him and get him to change, it wasn’t a good idea to risk Marinette’s identity.

He just had to trust that she was a capable enough Ladybug and could handle herself in Gotham. She’d been handling herself well enough in Paris, especially with Adrien’s refusal to transform in time for battles the last several months.

Finally, someone swung into Marinette’s hotel room, but it wasn’t Ladybug. A guy in a mask and a cape carried Marinette through the window, setting her down gently on the ground. Marinette clearly seemed to trust this person, so Plagg left the room before he could be seen. The only thing he knew about this kid was he would make a pretty good black cat…

Plagg waited a few hours before deciding to check on Marinette again. Tikki had finally calmed down, which he hoped meant Marinette had fallen asleep. He had taken to visiting her whenever he could get away from Adrien without risk over the years, and more so since Adrien had decided it was fine for him to miss battles if he was busy, so he knew she had nightmares that usually kept her up at night, to the point where she often wouldn’t fall asleep until just before her alarm went off and thus was late to school. He flew back up to her room to check, relieved on Marinette’s behalf that the lights were off.

“Sugar Cube,” he hissed, trying to get Tikki’s attention.

“Plagg? What are you doing?” Tikki whispered, flying over to him. She dragged him through the window so they could talk without disturbing Marinette.

“What happened tonight? You were freaking out, and I came up to check on you and the room was empty,” Plagg said. “Also, who was that guy that brought Marinette through the window? She seemed like she trusted him.”

“That was Robin. He’s one of the local heroes,” Tikki said. She hesitated for a second before adding, “and the guy who has been comforting Marinette since we got here.”

“Wait, he’s the guy she was with when she got back to the group? The one Adrien tried to pull her away from?”

“Yep. He took her on a date tonight and apparently saw her when we left the hotel to get fabric for the jacket Marinette wanted to make for him.”

“Wait, then why did you freak out?”

“He came up behind her and went to grab her shoulder to get her attention, but he brushed her Miraculous on accident...it triggered a panic attack because Marinette thought he was an akuma that was trying to take the Miraculous from her. She threw him over her shoulder and ran off, only to be cornered by his older brothers who were trying to help, but she just saw the masks and thought they were akumas too. I think she knocked one of them out briefly.”

“Good for her,” Plagg said, feeling a surge of pride for the little Ladybug. “Not that she had a panic attack, obviously, but that she taught them not to sneak up on or corner her like that. Especially if the youngest wants to date her, he should know that she can kick his ass if he hurts her.”

“Plagg!” Tikki scolded, her exasperation with her other half clear on her face. “You know she wouldn’t do anything like that!”

“No, but she can, and if he’s smart he won’t push her to do anything she doesn’t want to do now that he knows she can,” Plagg said bitterly. “Not like my holder, anyway.”

“Speaking of your Chosen—”

“He’s not my Chosen, Tikki. We both know he’s not a good Cat. He’s too passive, and too reckless, and refuses to do anything he doesn’t want to do unless he gets a reward at the end. He doesn’t take things seriously enough, and that’s a really dangerous thing when he’s supposed to be able to manage being a force of destruction. Not to mention how I can’t get through to him. I try to explain things, make him see that he’s in the wrong or hurting people or not ready to know things, and he won’t listen! At best he tries to bribe me with cheese, but at his worst he’s threatened to give up being Chat Noir entirely and leaving Ladybug completely alone if I don’t tell him something,” Plagg complained. “It’s a good thing he doesn’t know he can just order me to do things, otherwise we would really be in trouble.”

“Marinette wants Adrien to be replaced as Chat Noir,” Tikki blurted out. “She found out he was Chat earlier today, and she has good reason to want a new partner. He’s been slacking off as Chat Noir, making her job considerably more dangerous and leaving her desperate for temporary allies, and as Adrien, he’s basically abandoned her to deal with Lila and the class turning against her on her own. Not to mention how he’s been harassing her the entire time they’ve had their Miraculouses. She made it very clear to him that she didn’t want to date him and he continued to press the issue and even refused to work with her when she turned him down. She deserves a better partner, Plagg, so when we get back to Paris we’re going to talk to Master Fu about taking his Miraculous and finding someone who will take things seriously and support her.”

“Adrien isn’t going to be happy about that, and he’ll almost definitely be akumatized over it,” Plagg warned, “but I agree. For her sake and the sake of getting Nooroo and Duusu back, it needs to be done. And maybe this time Marinette and Fu can find someone who actually would be a good fit for the Cat Miraculous, or a different one if they felt one of the others would be more useful...I don’t want us to be separated again but if we can’t find a suitable replacement I’d rather the ring be retired.”

“Have you encountered anyone in Paris that you would work with?”

“Not in Paris, but that kid Marinette was with tonight felt right…”

“He may not be an option, Plagg. He has responsibilities here that he may not be able to give up. What about Luka, who usually helps out as Viperion?”

“He’d likely be a more pacifist cat, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing and he’ll be a good match for Marinette if need be. Let’s wait and see how things go when you talk to Fu, okay? I won’t tell Adrien about this until after Fu and Marinette have made a decision.”

“Okay. You should get back to him,” Tikki said, looking up at the sky as it lightened. “The sun is rising and you don’t want him to know you weren’t there. We can’t have him finding out Marinette’s identity right now.”

“Okay, Sugar Cube, but we’ll catch up later,” Plagg promised. He flew back to Adrien’s room, diving into his hiding space just as the blond and his DJ friend started to wake up.

~*~*~*~

“Do I text her? Is it too much if I text her? Because I know I saw her last night but she doesn’t know I saw her again last night, and I want to make sure she’s okay without letting on that I know she was crying, but I think texting her when I’m going to see her in an hour is too much,” Damian fretted, staring at her contact in his phone while his coffee went cold.

“Okay, who are you and what have you done with my brother? I’ve never known you to get so worked up over a girl,” Dick asked, sitting down across from him at the breakfast table. “Damian, it’s flirting, not rocket science.”

“With his epic fail last night, maybe rocket science would be easier for him,” Jason said.

“Todd, I will kick your ass,” Damian said flatly.

“I know you will, demon spawn, but I also know you won’t until after your little girlfriend goes back to France,” Jason said confidently. “You don’t want to accidentally reveal your identity to her, unless...Damian, are you really serious about her? I mean, you totally should be because from what I know of her, you should absolutely marry her, but if you are that serious it’ll mean you have to tell her everything.”

“Which means exposing that he was the hero making a fool of himself in her hotel room last night,” Tim pointed out.

“It might be a good thing he’s ‘great at being alone at night’ once she finds out that was him,” Jason said with a smug grin, which made Dick and Tim both laugh.

“You guys are the worst,” Damian grumbled. “I’m not bringing her over tonight.”

“Damian, we need to figure out what’s going on in Paris, and we won’t figure that out if we don’t get her here to ask her about it. She thinks her life is in danger there. We need to know why so we can help her,” Dick said. “We won’t embarrass you too badly.”

Damian glared at his brothers before crossing his arms with a huff.

“Fine. Speaking of that, why do you think she hasn’t told anyone about being in danger?” Damian asked. “I understand not telling her classmates because they treat her terribly and it seems like they’ve worked with this gang before, but why not tell her parents? Do you think she’s in some kind of witness protection program? Tikki could be the agent in charge of her case?”

“I guess it’s possible, but it seems unlikely that her parents wouldn’t be involved if that was the case? All I know is we can speculate as much as we want to but until we actually ask her about it, we won’t know for sure,” Dick said. “If you’re meeting her this morning, though, you should probably get ready to go. Are you driving?”

“No, actually. I’ll be driving Master Damian to the hotel today,” Alfred said, walking into the dining room.

“Alfred, I’ve been able to drive since I was eight. You don’t have to drive me,” Damian said.

“I know you are fully capable of driving yourself, Master Damian. I’ll be driving you at your father’s request,” Alfred said. “Now, go get ready, and do bring a jacket with you. If Miss Marinette was worried enough about you being cold that she left her hotel room alone to get fabric so she could make you a new jacket, she wouldn’t appreciate it if you showed up today without one at all.”

“Yeah, you don’t want your girlfriend to worry,” Jason teased. “She might flip you over her shoulder again.”

“That is not why she did that,” Damian huffed. “She thought we were robbing her, I think. She thought we wanted her earrings.”

“I know but it was still hilarious that she took you down so easily,” Jason said. “Up until she broke my helmet, anyway. I still need to get that fixed.”

Damian rolled his eyes and left the table to go get ready. As he headed upstairs to his room, he glanced down at his phone and sent her a quick message:

**Good morning, Angel. I hope you slept well last night!**

~*~*~*~

“Marinette! You need to get up! You’re running late again!” Tikki said, tapping Marinette’s cheek to wake her up. “Damian is on his way to the hotel to join you on the tour today and if you don’t wake up soon the class will leave you two behind again!”

“I’m up!” Marinette said, practically flying out of bed before Tikki even finished speaking. She giggled at her Chosen’s antics before grabbing a cookie to eat while Marinette got dressed.

Twenty minutes later, Marinette was ready. She was wearing a short-sleeved, light pink dress with a skirt that stopped halfway down her thighs and warm black tights underneath with her pink ballet flats. Her hair was loose around her face with a pink ribbon as a headband. She slid on the jacket Damian had given her and grabbed her phone, her purse that Tikki was already waiting in, and the jacket she made for Damian and ran out the door.

When the elevator doors opened in the lobby, it was almost completely empty. Her class was nowhere to be seen.

Again.

She had hoped that after leaving her behind the day before, Madame Bustier would wait to make sure she was on the bus, but apparently not. Her shoulders dropped, but her mood lifted when she saw Damian was standing near the door waiting for her. It didn’t seem like he saw her, though, since he was glaring at his phone while typing rapidly.

“Damian!” she called as she walked over. Damian looked up at her and instantly seemed more at ease.

“There you are! Your class was leaving when I got here...I didn’t see you with them so I thought I should wait here,” Damian said, scowling when he mentioned her class.

“I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night and slept through my alarm...I’d hoped they would wait, but I guess they didn’t notice again,” Marinette said, her smile fading.

“Do you want to go join them? Or should we do our own thing today?”

“We should probably join them...should we call a cab?”

“No need, my ride waited outside when we realized your class was leaving without you again,” Damian said, holding out his arm to her. “Shall we?”

“Yes, we shall,” she said with a smile. She went to loop her arm through his, but realized she was still carrying the jacket. “Oh! Before I forget...I made you this last night!”

“Oh?” Damian asked, taking the jacket from her as she held it out. He thought he would just have to pretend to be surprised since he had already seen it, but she had left the jacket unzipped so the first thing he noticed was her name embroidered in gold thread on the inside of the collar. He smiled and touched the thread almost reverently.

“I put my signature on everything I design,” Marinette said sheepishly. “I’ve had people attempt to steal my designs before, and the way I proved it was mine was the person copying the design also copied my signature.”

“Someone tried to steal your designs?” Damian demanded. Marinette waved him off.

“It’s not important. That was a while ago,” Marinette dismissed. “Try it on!”

“Yes, ma’am,” Damian said with a grin. He slid on the jacket, pleasantly surprised when it was a perfect fit. It was also much nicer without his Robin suit underneath it. “This is incredible, Marinette. You made this in one night? Did you sleep at all?”

“I don’t sleep much in general. A bad habit, I know, but insomnia is not my friend,” Marinette admitted. “Did you see the inside pocket?”

“The what?” Damian asked, opening the jacket again to look for the pocket she was talking about. It was a zippered pocket that almost blended into the interior lining. What made the pocket special, though, was the logo she had embroidered on it. A small red and black robin perched on a vine with three pink flowers, the largest of which had a cursive M in the center. “A robin and, are those cherry blossoms?”

“Apple blossoms, actually,” Marinette said. She held up her little pink purse that had the same logo sans the robin. “It’s my logo. I don’t put it on all of my designs, but I wanted to make the pocket stand out. You could put anything in it, really, but I made it with your lockpick set in mind.”

“Why add the robin?” Damian asked. _There’s no way she knows, is there? Did I blow it last night?_

“I had a bit of a run-in with some of Gotham’s heroes last night when I left the fabric store. Robin helped me get back to the hotel safely, but since that was twice in one night that I encountered the local heroes, I thought that maybe I should put a reminder to you about breaking and entering on the pocket for your lockpicks,” Marinette teased. “I wouldn’t want you to be calling me from jail because you broke into the wrong place.”

“I don’t think you actually have to worry about that, Angel, but thank you. I really do love this jacket,” Damian said, unable to stop smiling. He held his arm out for her to take again, and this time she did. He led her out to the car, where Alfred had already stepped out of the car and was waiting for them.

“You must be Miss Marinette,” Alfred said, stepping forward with his hand outstretched for her to shake. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Alfred Pennyworth, at your service.”

“Oh, um, hi,” Marinette said, clearly caught off guard. Nevertheless, she smiled and shook Alfred’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you too.”

“So, where are we off to? Are we going to join your class?” Alfred asked.

“That’s probably for the best. Our itinerary said we were supposed to be touring Wayne Tower today,” Marinette said. Alfred and Damian shared a look before Alfred nodded and opened the door for them.

“Very well, Miss. If you will,” Alfred said, gesturing to the door. Marinette looked up at Damian for confirmation. When he nodded, Marinette climbed in and slid over to let Damian in behind her. He said something to Alfred that she couldn’t hear and climbed in after her. Alfred closed the door and got into the driver’s seat and took off.

“Alfred is like my grandfather,” Damian explained, answering the question she was too hesitant to ask. “He’s worked with my family since my father was a child. Apparently he was close friends with my actual grandparents, and became my father’s legal guardian when they died.”

“Has Master Damian extended our dinner invitation to you yet, Miss Marinette?” Alfred interrupted.

“No, he hasn’t yet?” Marinette asked, looking at Damian with a raised eyebrow. Damian flushed slightly.

“My family wants to meet you tonight,” Damian said. “It’s nothing fancy, just a family dinner to get to know you. There’s no pressure or anything, I swear. Dick just noticed that I left Wayne Enterprises with you after the blond boy in your class upset you and told everyone.”

“It’ll be fine, Damian. I’d love to meet your family,” Marinette promised, smiling brightly.

_Meet them officially, at least._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to post pictures of what I had in mind for the jacket and new logo on my tumblr in a few minutes and I will link them [here](https://mindfulmagics.tumblr.com/post/186655612093/the-jacket-that-inspired-the-design-for-the-one)!
> 
> Let me know what y'all think! This was supposed to have the dinner scene in it but stuff got longer than I expected.


	6. Meeting the Family, Take 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette meets Damian's family again, only this time, she meets them as civilians.

After a short car ride, Alfred dropped the two off at the Wayne Tower. Damian led the way, and they quietly joined the class not too long after their tour started. They hung at the back of the group, and no one even noticed them appear.

~*~*~*~

“Again?” Bruce demanded, pinching the bridge of his nose. He was pacing in front of the window in his office while on the call. “They left her behind _again_?”

“Yes, sir,” Alfred sighed. “The bus was leaving when we got there, and Miss Marinette was not with them. She came downstairs roughly twenty minutes late, which is understandable considering the night she had last night.”

“Her teacher should have done a head count! You would think that after Dick pointed out they left her behind yesterday and she got separated from them the first night, they would remember to make sure she was there today,” Bruce said. “If it wasn’t for Damian finding her and becoming friends with her...does this teacher not understand how dangerous Gotham really is? What if the Riddler had found her before Robin did that first night? Or god forbid, the Joker? She could have been killed!”

“You sound like you’re going to do something about it,” Alfred said. Bruce sighed and pulled out his phone, sending Damian a quick message.

“Yes. Yes, I am,” Bruce said. “See if you can find any contact information with her parents. They should be updated on the situation, and I have a few things I’d like to ask them.”

“Right away, sir,” Alfred said and hung up. A few minutes later, he received a message with contact information for the Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie. He clicked on the number, and after two rings, a man’s voice picked up.

“Bonjour?” the man asked.

“Bonjour, je m'appelle Bruce Wayne. Êtes-vous les parents de Marinette Dupain-Cheng?” Bruce asked, seamlessly switching to French. The man called his wife over, and Bruce began to explain some of the things that had been going on since Marinette arrived in Gotham.

~*~*~*~

The tour was short but interesting, and Damian took to pointing out little things to Marinette that the guide didn’t think was important enough to tell her. One such fact was saying though the guide was right and there were twelve visible gargoyles, there was actually a secret thirteenth gargoyle on the roof. He also waited with Marinette while she pulled her book from her bag and drew a rough sketch of the gargoyles with some notes scribbled in the margins.

After the tour the group moved a few blocks away to Grant Park for a picnic lunch. The weather was uncharacteristically nice for Gotham, with the sun actually shining through the clouds for once, but it was still cool enough that Damian could still happily wear his new jacket. Marinette lead the way to one of the picnic tables to join one guy who was as tall as Damian's brothers, a very short girl with bright pink hair, and another boy with glasses and a small robot perched on his shoulder. Unfortunately, they didn’t quite make it to the picnic table.

“You again?” a voice called just before a hand reached out to grab Damian’s shoulder. It took every ounce of self-control Damian had to not break said hand as he turned to see who was touching him. It was the blond boy that had made Marinette cry the day before. Damian couldn’t seem to remember his name. “What are you doing here? You aren’t a part of this class.”

“No, but I am apparently the only one who cares enough about Marinette to make sure she’s safe,” Damian said cooly, raising an eyebrow at the boy. “Which is more than you can say, considering you let her get left behind twice in as many days.”

“Mari, what do you even know about this guy?” the blond said, clearly deciding Damian wasn’t worth his time. Damian stepped in front of Marinette protectively.

“I know enough, Adrien,” Marinette said bluntly. “I know he respects me and my choices, I know he actually cares about my safety, and I know he wouldn’t use a nickname for me after I told him he wasn’t allowed to call me that. I know he’s better than you.”

Adrien Agreste spluttered at that, clearly affronted by her honesty. Damian could have sworn he almost hissed, but surely he was just hearing things.

“Marinette, you’ve known me for years. We’re friends. How do you know this guy isn’t just pretending to care about you because you have something he wants?” Adrien asked. Marinette stepped around Damian to get in his face before Damian could even react. Despite their height difference making it impossible for her to really get in Adrien’s face, her expression was not one Damian ever wanted directed at him. Not after knowing she could easily take him down.

“I have known you for years, Agreste,” Marinette said, her voice barely loud enough for Damian to hear, “and do you want to know what I know about you? I know you’re too spineless to stand up for anyone who needs you. I know you’d rather let your so-called friends be lied to and manipulated and humiliated even though you could help them if you would just speak up. I know you never learned how to take no for an answer, and I know that whenever you don’t get your way you pout and sulk until the person you hurt apologizes to you, and that you ignore whatever responsibilities you can the second you stop having fun. Now I don’t know how much of that comes from your tragic backstory as a lonely child who never learned how to socialize because your father was emotionally distant and how much of that is just you, but I do know that you’ve had plenty of time and opportunities to grow out of it over the years and you never have. I also know that I want you to stay as far away from me as possible, so just go have lunch with the people you actually sided with and leave me alone.”

Marinette stepped back and shook herself off before walking back towards the picnic table she had planned on sitting at. Adrien just stared after her with his jaw on the ground. Damian took advantage of his shock to step in dangerously close and lean down to speak directly in his ear.

“I don’t appreciate people pretending to know me or my motivations,” Damian growled lowly. “Especially not people like you. I’d recommend you don’t do it again, because the next time you do I won’t be so polite.”

“You think _you_ could take me in a fight?” Adrien scoffed.

“I happen to know for a fact that I can,” Damian said, his voice deathly calm. “You’ve been hurting Marinette, and that’s all the justification I’d need to kick your ass like some common criminal and not feel guilty about it. Leave her alone.”

Damian turned and walked off to join Marinette and the classmates she had chosen to sit with, effectively ending the conversation there. He sat down and finally recognized the three students from his research into Marinette’s class. The pink haired one was Alix Kubdel, who had a talent for street art and often got in trouble for wearing rollerblades where they weren’t allowed. Damian remembered seeing an odd story about a villain inspired by her on the Ladyblog called Timebreaker, but it seemed incomplete. All Damian knew was that short story contained two villains and two of the ladybug-themed hero. The taller boy was likely Lê Chiến Kim, an athlete who had a reputation for enjoying dares and challenges. The story about him on the Ladyblog was for a winged villain called Dark Cupid, though that story focused less on the villain and more on the kiss shared between the two superheroes the author behind the Ladyblog created. The student with the robot was Max Kanté, who had the highest GPA in their class and regularly competes in video game competitions. Damian had found an article on their school website from years earlier of a gaming competition Max and Marinette had competed in together and won. He also found three different short stories on the Ladyblog related to Max, two stories about him as a video game themed villain and one story about his robot, who in the story felt human emotions and therefore was able to be turned into a monster who could control electronics.

_It’s odd that so many of the short stories published on the Ladyblog are about this class, but I suppose it makes sense if the author is in this class as well. She was probably inspired by them, and likely worked closely with them to design their characters._

“Oh em gee, Lila, are you ever going to spill where you went last night? You just told me you were going out and you didn’t get back to the room until almost midnight!” a girl asked loudly. Damian felt Marinette stiffen next to him.

“Come on, Alya, you know that I’m not one to kiss and tell,” Lila teased, flipping one of her sausage-like pigtails over her shoulder, “but if you must know, I was on a date last night. Remember how I said I had an on-again, off-again relationship with the son of the founder of Wayne Enterprises? Well, when he heard I was in town, he sent me a message and practically begged me to see him.”

“What?” Damian and Alya asked at the same time, though in very different tones. Alya’s question was excited, but Damian’s was almost disgusted. He glanced at Marinette just in time to see her roll her eyes in Alix’s direction, who responded with a shrug.

“Yeah! I sent him the hotel address and my Damiboo picked me up from the lobby like a true gentleman,” Lila swooned. Damian, meanwhile, had to fight against both his gag reflex and the ever growing urge to defend his family name. No one in his family appreciated liars, but to call her out now meant revealing to Marinette that he was a Wayne. He knew she would find out soon anyway, but he was still enjoying just being Damian in her eyes.

“That’s strange,” a new voice called from behind them, drawing everyone’s attention away from the liar’s story. “My son was on a date last night, but I can assure you, Miss Rossi, he was not on a date with you.”

“Holy shit, is that Bruce Wayne?” Kim whispered loudly.

“He actually knows who Lila is?” Alix stage-whispered back.

“I know who you all are. I’ve done my research into the class who continuously disregards all of the dangers Gotham is known for by leaving a student behind,” Bruce Wayne said. He turned back to Lila, “but aside from reading your name on the class roster this morning, Miss Rossi, you and I have never met, and you certainly have never dated my son. He’s rather particular about the girls he likes, and just from this interaction, I can tell you are not someone who would catch his interest in any positive manner.”

Lila’s jaw dropped. Damian could practically see the gears turning in her head as she tried to find a way to spin this in her favor. Bruce, however, clearly had more important things to do than wait for a liar’s attempt to save face.

“Miss Dupain-Cheng, I presume,” Bruce said, walking over to the table she was sitting at with Damian. “My son has told me a lot about you already. He seems to really enjoy your company.”

“Father,” Damian said, trying to prevent him from saying anything too embarrassing. “What are you doing here? I know you aren’t here just to meet Marinette since she’s coming over for dinner at the manor tonight, so something else must have come up.”

“Right. Marinette, I hope you don’t mind, but after I heard you had been left behind again, I took the liberty of reaching out to your parents. I felt they should be informed of your teacher’s negligence, and I offered to take responsibility for your safety for the remainder of your stay in Gotham. They agreed so long as you are okay with being removed from the class trip. Alternate plans are being arranged that we can discuss further over dinner tonight, should you agree as well,” Bruce offered.

~*~*~*~

Marinette needed a second to process everything. Damian’s father had actually cared about her safety enough to reach out to her parents about it, despite not knowing her yet? That alone was enough to catch her off guard, until she remembered what Damian had told her as Robin the night before...Batman was his father. Damian’s entire family were superheroes, and they’ve made it clear to her that they’re worried about her being alone in Gotham, so it made sense to her that as heroes, they would want to protect her.

Though, being heroes didn’t always mean doing the right thing, as her class had proven to her more than once...she’d had to retire several of them as heroes over the years for being unable to prove they deserved the Miraculous in their civilian lives. She could tell Damian’s family was different though. She felt it in the same way that she knew Luka and Kagami would make good recurring allies when Chat couldn’t be trusted to show up. It was what Master Fu called her “Guardian instinct” and had been encouraging her to trust more, so she would trust it now.

“Before I make any decisions, sir, can I call my parents to confirm with them?” Marinette asked. “I don’t believe that you would lie about any of this, I just would like to make sure.”

“I’d be more offended if you didn’t,” Mr. Wayne assured her. “I understand completely. While you call them, I’ll discuss things with Madame Bustier so she understands why it’s so important that she keep better track of her students on this trip, regardless of whether you stay with your class or come with us.”

Marinette nodded and walked a short distance away so she could call her parents without being overheard. They confirmed that Mr. Wayne had called them that morning. They also said that they just wanted her to be safe and enjoy her trip, but that they knew she likely wouldn’t enjoy herself with her class. They trusted her judgment, so if she wanted to leave with them, she had their permission, but that if she felt like anything was off about them, that they would understand her deciding to stay with the class since at least she would know what to expect there. Marinette assured them she felt like the Waynes were people she could trust, but she promised to update them on everything that happened once she left the trip.

When she walked back to the group, there was chaos. Alix, Kim, Ivan, and Max were giving out to everyone and bringing up things Lila had lied about in the past, obviously trying to use Bruce Wayne himself exposing one of her lies to get them to believe the other stories, even if they only had circumstantial evidence to prove they were lies. The last few years they had been neutral on the conflict between Marinette and Lila, since they didn’t really believe Marinette would be mean to anyone for no reason but they never had enough proof to get the others to listen before. Alya was yelling back in support of Lila, while Nino stood off to the side watching awkwardly. Adrien looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him whole, and Mylene and Rose looked thoroughly betrayed. Nathaniel was on his phone, likely texting Marc about this new development. Juleka was trying her best to comfort Rose. Lila, for once in her life, looked like she had nothing to say, and no new lie to spin to distract the rest of the class the way she did whenever Marinette tried to expose her. Damian was watching the commotion with an unimpressed look, but he smiled at Marinette when she walked up to him.

“Did you decide?” he asked, holding out his hand for her to take. “You don’t have to come. We’ll all understand if you don’t want to.”

“No, I want to,” Marinette said, intertwining her fingers with his. “I just have to keep my parents updated on everything.”

“Then shall we go wait in the car? Unless you want to see how all of this unfolds and listen to my father yell at your teacher,” Damian said.

“Yeah, let’s go. I don’t need to see them argue,” Marinette said. Damian lead her to the car, resisting the urge to laugh at how she swung their joined hands exaggeratedly while they walked.

~*~*~*~

Once Mr. Wayne had finished talking to Madame Bustier, he got back in the car and Alfred drove them to Marinette’s hotel so she could pick up her stuff. Damian went upstairs with her and waited just inside the door while she threw her stuff in her suitcase. She caught him eyeing the desk as if something was missing, and mentally cursed when she realized he was probably looking for the sewing machine Tikki had summoned for her, which had disappeared as soon as she’d finished using it. Thankfully, she knew he wouldn’t ask because technically Damian didn’t know about the sewing machine, so she had time to either come up with a decent excuse or to have Tikki summon another one. Once she was ready, they went back down to the car, and Alfred drove them to Wayne Manor.

~*~*~*~

“Are you _sure_ I’m not imposing?” Marinette asked again as they walked into the manor’s living room after she got settled. Damian cupped her cheeks in his hands and tilted her head up to look at him. She blushed lightly and covered his hands with hers.

“Marinette, Angel, you aren’t imposing. We invited you to come stay with us, and the manor has plenty of space,” Damian said. “You are more than welcome here, I swear.”

“Thank you,” Marinette said. She looked up at him with a soft smile that he just couldn’t pull his attention away from.

He started leaning down without realizing it, slowly closing the distance until…

“Damian! Alfred said you were back already!” Dick said, walking into the room. Marinette startled and pulled away, spinning around so quickly Damian was amazed she stayed upright. He shot an irritated glare at his brother over her head. Dick just smirked at him before turning his attention to Marinette. “I didn’t realize you would be joining us so early today, Marinette. I met your class yesterday, but I don’t think I officially met you during the tour. I’m Dick Grayson, one of Damian’s older brothers.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Marinette said with a shy wave. She took in his height and made a guess at his measurements, and quickly came to the conclusion that this brother was probably Nightwing.

“Jason and Tim are around here somewhere. Let me text them so they can meet you too,” Dick said, pulling out his phone. He snapped a quick photo of Damian scowling at him over Marinette’s awkward smile and sent it. Within seconds, there was a chorus of odd crashes and running steps, and a huge blur that was probably two people skidded past the living room and slammed into the hallway wall.

“Are they okay?” Marinette asked hesitantly. Damian rolled his eyes.

“They’ll live,” Damian said. “They always do.”

“This is why I usually wear a helmet,” Jason groaned, then yelped as Tim smacked him. “Hey!”

“We have company,” Tim hissed.

“Yeah, that’s why we ran downstairs so fast we crashed into a wall, Tim. Or did you forget already?”

“No, but I clearly think you’ve taken one too many hits to the head recently.”

“Did you two want to introduce yourselves at all? Or are you just going to sit out in the hall arguing where everyone can hear you?” Damian asked pointedly. Marinette, meanwhile, was doing her best to keep from showing that she knew their identities. If she hadn’t learned them the night before, she would have at least learned Jason’s then. At least now she knew exactly which brother was which hero.

“Right!” one of them said, jumping up and into the room. Based on his build, Marinette guessed this was probably Red Hood, meaning he was— “I’m Jason! Demon spawn hasn’t been able to stop talking about you since he met you, and I can definitely understand why.”

“Demon spawn?” Marinette frowned. “You mean Damian?”

“Damian is usually the grumpiest of all of us,” Tim explained, “but he’s actually been smiling since he met you. It’s kind of miraculous.”

“Oh,” Marinette said, her hand resting on her purse awkwardly for a second before she made herself relax. “Well, I’m glad we met. I may never have gotten back to my class if we hadn’t.”

“Are you sure you want to thank him for that?” Jason asked. “From what I heard, they were pretty terrible.”

“I mean, I got to see…” Marinette trailed off as a rather large realization hit her like a truck. She spun around to look at Damian. “You broke into your own family’s garden? And didn’t tell me it was your family’s when I was anxious about getting caught?”

“I didn’t want you to know I was a Wayne yet,” Damian admitted. “I liked being just Damian around you.”

“You’re still my Damian, you know. You being a Wayne doesn’t change that,” Marinette said. “It just would have made me a lot less anxious about being caught by Batman.”

“Awww,” Dick, Jason, and Tim all cooed while Damian tried and failed to not get flustered. Jason vaulted over the couch and sat down.

“So, speaking of Batman, what’s your opinion on superheroes, Marinette?” Jason asked as everyone else sat down.

“Just superheroes in general? Or specifically Gotham’s superheroes?” Marinette asked. Dick raised an eyebrow.

“I think Jason just meant heroes in general, but if you have any specific opinions on Gotham’s heroes, you’re more than welcome to share,” Dick said.

“Okay. First, I don’t want you guys to misunderstand me. I have a lot of respect for Gotham’s heroes. They take their jobs very seriously, and even though none of them have powers, they go out and do everything they can to keep people safe, so I respect them very much,” Marinette explained. She went to continue, but hesitated.

“I’m sensing a but coming,” Tim said.

“I guess it’s just weird for me to see adults be superheroes,” Marinette admitted after a moment.

“Wait, why? Who else would be superheroes?” Jason asked. “I mean, I get that we have Robin who is technically still a kid, but he isn’t always involved and from what I've seen, he doesn’t usually go out alone.”

“Well, we have a few superheroes in Paris, but they’re all teenagers,” Marinette said. “There are a couple of adults with powers, but they’re not exactly the hero type. Just the opposite, in fact.”

There was a tense silence in the room as the Wayne sons all took a minute to process what they heard. It was eventually broken by an appalled chorus of:

“Wait, _what_?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I used Google translate for the French lines. In case you didn't understand, it just translates to, "Hello, my name is Bruce Wayne. Are you the parents of Marinette Dupain-Cheng?"
> 
> Also, in case you were wondering, the rift in the class in this was inspired by the rift in the LadybugOut AU by @miraculouscontent on tumblr. 
> 
> Basically, the Pro-Lila faction is Alya, Nino, Mylene, and Adrien (since he aligned himself pretty firmly with Lila despite claiming to be Pro-Marinette or even neutral). Alya is firmly Pro-Lila because accepting that Lila lied about everything means accepting that she's been posting a lot of lies and half-truths on her blog instead of properly checking her sources and thus potentially put her future as a journalist at risk.
> 
> The rest of the class is Neutral to varying degrees. Rose flip-flops between supporting Lila and Marinette (since she seems like she can be easily manipulated). Alix, Kim, Ivan, and Max/Markov are more Pro-Marinette, but since they couldn't find any solid proof that Lila was lying, they were more quiet supporters (basically giving both girls the benefit of the doubt, but looking for proof one way or the other). Nathaniel is neutral because he doesn't think Marinette is a bully, but they've had their misunderstandings and the rest of the class doesn't pay enough attention for him to really change anyone's mind. Juleka is firmly neutral, as are Chloe and Sabrina but for different reasons (they dislike Marinette and Lila equally). 
> 
> Outside of the class, Marc is neutral with Nathaniel since he doesn't believe Marinette could really bully anyone, but since he's not in the class he doesn't know everything that's been going on, and Kagami and Luka are firmly Pro-Marinette. They're much closer friends in this AU and have pretty much been Marinette's support system outside of her parents. If I write more fics for this AU (which I do want to), I'll probably go a Lukagami route for them.
> 
> I hope y'all liked this part! It was pretty fun to write, and the next part should be even more so. Let me know your thoughts!


	7. Now You've Thrown Them Off Their Rhythm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Batfam finally understand that akumas are not gang members

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little longer than I meant it to be, and I still had to push something I wanted to include here on to the next one, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I hope y'all like it too.
> 
> Also, y'all have been leaving the best comments. They make me so happy :) Thanks for being so awesome!

“What do you _mean_ Paris has teenage superheroes?” Dick asked.

“I, I mean that Paris has teenage superheroes?” Marinette asked, feeling like it was a trick question. “When I was thirteen, a villain calling himself Hawkmoth turned Ivan, one of my classmates, into a giant rock monster called Stoneheart after his heart was broken. Ladybug and Chat Noir came forward to fight them. They’ve had several temporary and some recurring allies over the years, and recently the two main recurring heroes, Viperion and Ryuuko, have practically become permanent heroes. They fight when Chat Noir decides not to show up to battles, which has been happening more and more often.”

“Okay, wait. Back up a little,” Tim said. “You have a villain who turns children into monsters? Really?”

“Not just children,” Marinette clarified. “He akumatizes anyone with any kind of negative emotions. I’ve seen almost everyone around me turn into an akuma, and a lot of them were akumatized multiple times.”

“That’s what akumas are?” Damian asked. “I heard you mention that word yesterday, but none of us knew what they were. We assumed they were some kind of gang, but all we could find about them online were from a website called the Ladyblog.”

“Yeah, Alya runs the Ladyblog. She was the first person to start getting videos and information about Ladybug and Chat Noir, so she’s considered the expert on them. Her blog is the most popular one in Paris, and she gets called to join some of the professional reporters after more intense akuma attacks,” Marinette said. “If you found the Ladyblog, why did you think akumas were a gang?”

“We didn’t realize anything on the Ladyblog was real,” Dick admitted. “If I’m being honest, we thought it was all fictional, or just some story that people were following online. There was a movie based on it, too, so we thought all of the footage we found was fake, or made by someone with a lot of visual effects experience. So...there really are magical superheroes and villains in Paris?”

“Yes. Pretty much everything you read on the Ladyblog is true, at least to an extent,” Marinette said. “There are a few articles where no one was really sure what happened, so those are mostly speculative or based on brief interviews with the heroes, and there are some things that are the result of odd circumstances that Alya didn’t look closely enough into before posting, but it’s all mostly accurate.”

“But...all of it?”

“Yeah. There was Mr. Pigeon, who was akumatized 25 times and then akumatized several more times as Monsieur Rat, and baby August who was akumatized into Gigantitan multiple times as well. The girl I babysit became a puppet-master twice...the first time she controlled people using dolls and the second time she just controlled wax figures. The director of that animated Ladybug and Chat Noir movie got akumatized and turned into actual cartoons when no one cared about him at the movie premiere,” Marinette said, staring off into space as she recounted the akumas that stood out in her memory the most. 

“What the fuck?” Jason asked, but Marinette didn’t hear him. 

“My dad turned into a werewolf and trapped me in a tower made of vines after a huge misunderstanding where Chat Noir rejected me. My principal turned into an owl-themed villain and Ladybug and Chat Noir very nearly lost,” she continued, one shaky hand coming up to touch her earring. The guys caught the motion and frowned.

“Angel, we understand. We should have believed what we saw on the Ladyblog,” Damian said. He rubbed her back soothingly, trying to calm her down so they could change the subject since this was clearly upsetting her. She flinched when his hand hit her back but still didn’t respond. 

“My great-uncle tried to turn Chloe into soup after she ruined the soup he made for a contest. An akumatized classmate asked me on a date and I kind of had to say yes. Alya’s father turned into an animal shapeshifter after a different classmate wanted to race a panther at the zoo. Another classmate could touch people and make them disappear,” she said. A few tears slipped down her cheeks as she stared at nothing.

“Angel, it’s okay. You’re safe,” Damian said.

“Damian, that’s almost the same expression as last night,” Dick warned.

“What’s going on?” Bruce asked, walking in with Alfred not too far behind him.

“We asked Marinette about superheroes and those akuma things and she’s spiralling and we don’t know how to pull her out,” Tim summarized. “Apparently the Ladyblog stuff is all true though, and a lot of it impacted Marinette personally.”

“A swimmer turned into a mermaid and flooded Paris after one of my classmates didn’t realize she was trying to ask him out. My teacher once turned into a love zombie. My grandmother turned into a witch and tried to kill me and my friends on my birthday when I went to a party they planned for me instead of spending the whole day with her. Dark Cupid turned people’s love into hatred...” Marinette’s voice cracked on the last word and she finally stopped. She squeezed her eyes shut and took a few unsteady breaths to try and calm herself down. Alfred came over and knelt down next to her.

“Miss Marinette?” Alfred called softly, his voice barely loud enough to be heard. Her eyes snapped open and she looked at him warily. “Would you like some tea?”

It took Marinette a few seconds to process his question, but once she did she nodded. Alfred stood and held out his hand to help her stand. Once she took it, he helped her make her way to the kitchen so he could make some tea and talk to her without the boys around to eavesdrop.

Damian got up to follow her, but Dick held him back.

“I know you’re worried about her, but give her some space,” Dick said. “She’ll be fine, but if you push this, you might make it worse. She’s obviously been through a lot.”

“I think that’s the understatement of the fucking century,” Jason said. “She took two of us down last night, she’s worried about one of these akuma monstrosities killing her, which has already happened to her a couple of times if everything she said is true...this stuff has been happening since she was thirteen. I’m sure what she just told us only barely scratches the surface of the stuff she’s seen.”

“How did we miss all of that happening in Paris?” Damian asked. “We should have known about that.”

“I don’t know, Damian. But we were already going to get her flight home changed, so once we talk to her about that, we’ll book extra tickets and some of us will go with her to investigate,” Bruce said. “We need at least one person here to act as Batman, and I’d rather whoever stayed behind had backup just in case anything happened.”

“Why don’t you and Damian go with her, if she’s okay with it?” Dick suggested. “I can wear your suit again until you get back, and I’ll have Jason and Tim here for support. Besides, there’s no way Damian isn’t going.”

“Not a chance,” Damian said, his attention split between the conversation in the living room and the direction Marinette had disappeared into.

~*~*~*~

Alfred got Marinette settled at the table in the kitchen before setting to work. He set a plate of cookies and an empty mug on the table next to her and put the kettle on the stove to boil. He got out a teapot and put some chamomile tea in it, then leaned against the counter and watched her as she got her breathing to even out.

_She knows how to help herself out of an anxiety or panic attack, it seems. That’s a good thing._

“How old are you, Miss?” Alfred asked when he couldn’t see her hands shake anymore.

“I’m almost seventeen,” Marinette said quietly. “And you can just call me Marinette, Alfred, it’s okay.”

“If that’s what you’d prefer,” Alfred said, turning as the kettle started to whistle. He turned off the burner and poured the water in the teapot. “You’ve had a long four years, it seems.”

Marinette didn’t respond, and Alfred didn’t blame her. He poured some tea in her mug and then sat down at the table with her.

“Before I came to work with the Waynes, I was in the army for several years. It was hard, and I had a lot of trouble coping with some of the things I saw,” Alfred said, mainly to fill the silence. “The last few years before I retired and moved to Gotham, I worked a few top secret missions with a new partner. Her name was Duusu.”

Marinette’s head snapped up at that, her eyes wide and anxious. “Duusu?”

“Yes. We went on some very important missions during that time, and we worked very well together. We were practically inseparable, right up until our last mission,” Alfred said. “Duusu had given me a brooch, one that was very important to her. On our last mission, things went sideways, and I lost that brooch. Duusu wouldn’t, or more accurately couldn’t, talk to me again after that.”

“I’m sorry,” Marinette whispered, resisting the urge to touch her Miraculous by holding her mug instead. Tikki patted her leg through her purse.

“It was a long time ago, but I still think about her all the time,” Alfred said. “She would tell me stories of her friends. Some of them were real characters, you know? Plagg, Trixx, Wayzz, Sass...but the one she talked about more than the others was Tikki. She always said Tikki was a real creative soul who loved to surround herself with others who were just as creative and clever as she was. She also told me Tikki had the biggest sweet tooth of any of her friends.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Marinette asked slowly. Alfred offered her a warm smile.

“I want you to understand that you’re safe here,” he said. “The Waynes will protect you if you need them to, but if you want someone to talk to, I know a bit of what you’re going through. I was much older than you were when I got my Miraculous, and I didn’t have it quite as long as you have, but I will always be here to lend an ear if you need someone to talk to.”

“Do the others know I’m...Ladybug?” she asked.

“No. They didn’t even know Ladybug was real,” Alfred promised. “If you wanted to trust them, however, you could.”

“Do you trust them?”

“Without question.”

“Do you know about them too, then? If you figured out my secret, do you know theirs?”

“I take it you’re referring to last night?”

“Yes. I didn’t mean to find out, I promise,” Marinette assured him, “but I heard one of them say Damian’s name before he brought me back to the hotel.”

“Then you must know about all of them,” Alfred said. Marinette nodded. “They’re usually much better about keeping secrets, Marinette, I assure you. If you wanted to tell someone about what’s really going on, they’re the people I would trust over anyone else.”

“Thank you, Alfred,” Marinette said, setting down her mug. For a moment Alfred thought she would get up and leave the kitchen, but she opened up her purse instead and a little red and black kwami flew out. “This is Tikki.”

“It’s wonderful to meet one of Duusu’s birds,” Tikki said brightly. “We haven’t heard from her in a long time.”

“She mentioned she had been separated from you,” Alfred said. “Based on a few articles on the Ladyblog, it seems that she’s being used by a villain now?”

“Mayura,” Marinette confirmed. “I’m sorry. We’re trying to get her and Nooroo back, but it’s been difficult.”

“You are very young to have a Miraculous, Marinette. Hawkmoth appeared nearly four years ago now, so you were barely thirteen when you were paired with Tikki? That was never going to be easy for you, not against grown adults who may have had their Miraculouses for several years before you ever heard of them,” Alfred said. “How did you get your Miraculous, if you don't mind me asking?”

“There’s a Guardian in Paris,” Marinette said, “the only one left from the temple of the Order of the Guardians. He’s spent the last few years training me to take his place. When he can’t protect the Miraculouses anymore, I’ll become the new Guardian and take on that responsibility.”

“At least you always had the Guardian to support you,” Alfred said. Marinette’s grimace made him pause. “You did have the Guardian’s support, right?”

“Not for the first few months. For a while it was just me and Chat Noir and our kwamis,” Marinette said, “and no, we didn’t know each other’s identities. Chat Noir still doesn’t know mine, which is for the best, really…”

Alfred frowned for a minute, then got up and scribbled something on a piece of paper. When he handed it to her, she saw two phone numbers.

“The first number is a direct line to Batman. If things get bad and you can’t manage on your own, call that number and either Master Bruce or one of the other Justice League members will go to Paris as soon as possible to help,” Alfred said. “The second is my personal phone number. If you need anything at all, please call me. I may not be a hero anymore, but I understand some of the things you’re going through, and I will do my best to help you get through them.”

“Thank you,” Marinette said, blinking back tears. She pulled out her phone and added the numbers quickly to distract herself. “I promise I’ll call if I need anything.”

“Please do. And, Marinette, your use of those numbers is not limited to you having a relationship with Master Damian, you know,” Alfred said with a knowing smile. Marinette blushed. “Regardless of how things work out, we’ll help you if you need us.”

The next thing Alfred knew, Marinette was out of her chair and hugging him tightly. He was surprised at first, but he could tell she needed the comfort and hugged her back.

“Thank you, really,” Marinette sniffled, breaking Alfred’s heart. “You’ve all been so nice to me, even though you don’t know me very well, and I just...it’s really nice to be around people who are showing that they’ll be on my side, not just saying they will be.”

Alfred didn’t have anything to say to that, so he opted to be a silent comfort until she felt better. By the time she decided to pull away, he had a plan in mind that he thought would cheer her up.

“You have combat training outside of your transformation, correct? The way you took down Masters Jason and Damian makes me think you’re comfortable fighting without Tikki’s magic supporting you.”

“Yeah, I started taking martial arts and some gymnastics classes about a year after I became Ladybug,” Marinette confirmed. “I needed to be a better fighter if I didn’t want to lose the earrings, and it’s also a lot of fun.”

“If you were to bring up that you have proper training in a way that implied last night wasn’t a fluke, I know Master Jason would challenge you to a rematch,” Alfred said. “Not quite in those words, of course, but he would suggest a sparring match. If you were interested in something like that, I’m sure you’re more than capable of catching them by surprise.”

“That would be very sneaky, Alfred,” Marinette said, fighting a smile.

“I would not believe you for a second if you told me you didn’t know how to use every advantage you could get in a fight,” Alfred said. He set about putting away the tea and cookies that were left mostly untouched on the table, except for a few cookies Tikki had eaten. “I will make a suggestion, though...if you do decide to tell them your identity, wait until the right moment. I know those boys, and once they know you have a few tricks to use in a fight, they won’t underestimate you again. Perhaps a very bright light in the middle of a match would throw them off their rhythm and give you back the upper hand.”

Marinette was silent, but when Alfred looked back at her, he saw a sly smile on her face and an idea already forming in her mind. He winked at her and she giggled.

“I think that sounds like the makings of a very entertaining afternoon,” Marinette agreed. She opened her purse and motioned for Tikki to fly back in. “Thank you for the suggestion.”

“Any time, Miss,” Alfred said with a smile. Marinette turned and left the kitchen, humming a little song as she made her way back to the living room.

_I do believe Master Damian is going to have a hard time keeping up with her._

~*~*~*~

Marinette rapped her knuckles against the living room door frame before walking in. She knew how much she began to loathe people sneaking up on her after she became a superhero, and she had a feeling they would feel the same way. Damian had his arms wrapped around her almost immediately.

“I’m okay, Damian,” Marinette promised. “I didn’t mean to worry you, I just didn’t realize how much talking about that would affect me. Usually I can compartmentalize it better, or I just avoid thinking about it.”

“I understand,” Damian said. “You’ve been through a lot.”

“Yeah, we all get it,” Jason said. “We grew up in Gotham. We’ve had our fair share of nightmares caused by super villains.”

“Why don’t you come sit and we can talk about something else?” Bruce suggested. Damian finally let go of her, but only went far enough to hold her hand instead as they moved back to the couch they had been sitting on. “We’ve all been looking forward to the chance to get to know you better.”

“Yeah! What kind of stuff do you like to do?” Dick asked.

“Well, I’m a fashion designer,” Marinette said proudly. “I make almost all my own clothes, and I do commissions sometimes. I’ve even designed a few pieces for Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale, and costumes for my friend’s band.”

“Wait, you know Jagged Stone? Like, _the_ Jagged Stone?”

“Yeah! I made his Eiffel Tower glasses when I was thirteen and he started commissioning me for other things after that. He’s like an uncle to me now,” Marinette said, shrugging as if it weren’t anything particularly unusual.

“She also made this,” Damian said, gesturing to his new jacket. Jason’s eyes nearly popped out of his head.

“You made that? I want one!” Jason said. He dragged Damian off the couch to get a better look at the jacket. Bruce stood up to look at it more closely as well.

“This is really well made,” Bruce praised her. “When did you have time to make it? Didn’t you only meet Damian yesterday? Was it a design you were already working on?”

“No, I made it specifically for Damian,” Marinette said, standing up as well. “I sketched out the design while we were at the botanical garden last night, and then went out last night and bought the fabric to stitch it together.”

“You made this in one night?” Bruce asked. “Did you sleep at all?”

“I don’t sleep much. I’ve gotten used to staying up late either to work on designs or because of insomnia or nightmares, and I had a good sewing machine that made it easier,” Marinette said. She started pointing out specific things about the design, from explaining her choice in fabrics to the subtle quilting pattern she had stitched into the lining of the hood.

“She even put an embroidered pocket in the interior lining,” Damian said, unzipping his jacket to show them the robin and blossom logo.

“Robin helped me get home from the fabric store last night. He didn’t like me being alone in Gotham any more than Damian does, so I thought putting a nod to him would be appropriate,” Marinette explained.

“You met Robin?” Dick asked.

“I met all of the heroes last night. That’s why I was able to form an opinion on them,” Marinette reminded him.

“Aside from your opinions on adult heroes, how was it?”

“Eventful,” Marinette laughed awkwardly. “They didn’t know I had martial arts training and snuck up on me...Robin ended up on the sidewalk and I think I may have broken Red Hood’s helmet with a rock.”

“When did you begin taking martial arts classes?” Bruce asked. “It must have been a while if you held your own against them.”

“Okay, in their defence, they really weren’t expecting it, and they weren’t trying to fight me,” Marinette said. “They just wanted to make sure I was safe and had to deal with my fight or flight response instead. But I started taking regular classes not long after Hawkmoth started terrorizing Paris. I wanted to be able to fight just in case an akuma ever cornered me, so I asked my mom to teach me what she knew and then found more advanced classes as I needed them.”

“Do you want to spar?” Jason asked, just like Alfred had predicted he would.

“Jason, she is in a dress!” Damian scolded. Marinette turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow.

“What, do you think I can’t win?” she asked innocently.

“Those are fighting words if I’ve ever heard them!” Jason exclaimed. He got up to push some furniture out of the way so they would have a clear enough area to spar in. It wasn’t perfect, and the tables and couches were much closer than Damian was comfortable with, but he supposed the match probably wouldn’t be very mobile. “A challenge has been issued! Who am I to ignore it?”

Marinette smiled and walked to one side of the space, choosing to stand near the coffee table. On it she saw a few magazines, a decorative bowl she really didn’t want to break, and a few remotes of varied sizes, and immediately knew what her plan of action would be. She just had to see how Jason’s fighting style would fit into it. She pulled the long pink ribbon out of her hair and balled it up in her hand, then shook herself off to make sure she was loose.

“Make sure you pull your punches,” Damian hissed in Jason’s ear.

“Obviously,” Jason hissed back. “I’m not going to hurt her.”

Damian nodded once and sat down, watching Marinette anxiously. Sure, he knew she could defend herself in an emergency, but anything could happen.

“Whenever you’re ready, little lady,” Jason said, falling into a fighting stance. Marinette slid into her own confidently.

“Hit me with your best shot,” she said. Jason laughed and lunged at her.

She ducked under his first punch easily, falling on the defensive while she studied him. He came after her again, and she sidestepped him. She swung at him next, careful not to put any power in the swing and making sure it missed him. The third time he swung at her, she ducked and rolled out of the way, using the motion to knock the magazines off the table and create a distraction. She knew everyone’s eyes would be drawn to the magazines to make sure she hadn’t gotten hurt, so she took advantage of that to steal a small remote off the table as she came out of the roll into a crouch. She used the folds of her skirt to keep the remote hidden from them.

“Are you okay, Angel?” Damian asked, causing Jason to back off slightly. Marinette looked up with a sheepish smile.

“I’m fine. Just a bit of a klutz sometimes,” she said, fidgeting with her skirt nervously. Or at least, that’s what she made it look like. She had wrapped the end of her ribbon around the remote to create a makeshift version of her yo-yo. She tied the knot securely and made a show of composing herself. Once she was ready, she stood back up, holding the hand with the remote so he wouldn’t notice it. “Shall we go again?”

“Are you sure?” Jason asked.

“Positive...unless you're worried I’ll beat you?” Marinette teased, edging her way towards one of the couches.

“Ha, ha,” Jason laughed sarcastically, winding up to swing at her again. This time, Marinette went firmly on the offensive.

When Jason swung at her, she took advantage of the slight forward step she knew he would take. She snapped out her makeshift weapon and caught it around his ankle right as she dodged the fist he had thrown her way. She grabbed his wrist with her free hand and pulled on her ribbon, yanking his foot out from under him. He grabbed at her to try and catch his balance, but Marinette used that opportunity to wrap the ribbon around his wrists and knot it securely. It all happened too quickly for Jason to do anything else, and suddenly his back was hitting the ground, his head landing on a pillow Marinette had thrown under him at the last second.

“Are you okay?” Marinette asked, her very concerned expression hovering over Jason’s face. “Did the pillow land right or did I misjudge that? You’re not wearing your helmet and I didn’t want you to get another head injury when you hit the floor.”

“How did you do that?” Bruce asked. Marinette shrugged.

“He was pulling his punches which made them easy to dodge and grab, and whenever he swung at me he would take a small step forward. I just watched closely and then took advantage of what I saw,” Marinette said. "I don't know if you guys have noticed, but I'm very small, so I have to pay close attention to everything when I'm in a fight to get the upper hand."

“Wait, back up. You said I wasn’t wearing _my_ helmet. What did you mean?” Jason asked, struggling to sit up.

Marinette blanched. She hadn’t meant to say that, but she was nervous that he had gotten hurt and she said more than she planned to. Again. She knew Jason had mentioned that he preferred to wear a helmet when he and Tim crashed into a wall, so she could just say she meant that...but she also knew she was very likely to make that mistake again, especially if she decided to spar with any of the others too. She took a deep breath and chose to do what she would want someone to do for her in this situation.

“I know your identities,” Marinette said, locking eyes with Damian. “I heard one of them say your name into your comm last night when you were bringing me back to the hotel from the fabric store. From there, it wasn’t hard to figure out everyone else. I’m sorry. I didn't say anything earlier because I knew if you hadn't already told me yourself, you probably didn't want me to know at all.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All of the akumas and stuff mentioned is stuff from current canon, and the only one mentioned from an episode I haven't seen is Astruc's self-insert's akuma. I've only seen a handful of Season 3 episodes (Chameleon, Weredad, and Oblivio) so that's why there aren't many of the later akumas mentioned. I also didn't have the mental energy to make up other traumatizing akumas so I went with ones from the show that happened when she was younger.
> 
> Also, for the age thing in case anyone was wondering, Marinette is confirmed to be born in 2001. The show takes place in 2015 (I think?), and she turned 14 in Befana so she was 13 before then (ie 13 in Origins), and I'm assuming she was barely 13 when Origins took place so there were several months where she had her Miraculous before she turned 14. That's not super important, that's just how I came to the conclusion that this is 4 years after Origins (and roughly 3 years after the most recent episodes).
> 
> Anyway, I hope you guys liked this one!


	8. Bats and Blessings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a conversation in this chapter that is meant to take place in Mandarin (because Marinette actually speaks Mandarin in this AU). It's written in English because the fic is in English and it was easier that way, but there is a pun in it that doesn't work in English so I'll explain it in the end note.

_“I know your identities,” Marinette said, locking eyes with Damian. “I heard one of them say your name into your comm last night when you were bringing me back to the hotel from the fabric store. From there, it wasn’t hard to figure out everyone else. I’m sorry. I didn't say anything earlier because I knew if you hadn't already told me yourself, you probably didn't want me to know at all.”_

“Fuck. That was my fault,” Dick said. “I knew she was near your comm but I didn’t realize she was that close.”

“This is why we don’t use real names on comms!” Tim said. “This is exactly why! We have secret identities for a reason, people!”

“It’s not like she wouldn’t have found out eventually,” Jason said. “Not if Demon Spawn is serious about her.”

“Okay but we should have gotten to know her first!” Tim argued.

“I won’t tell anyone,” Marinette spoke up. She was working on undoing the knot she had tied in her ribbon to free Jason. She hadn’t made it very complicated, but when he fell he tightened it and now she was having some trouble with it. “I understand that secret identities are important. You have friends and family to worry about, and if any of Gotham’s criminals or villains knew your identities, they would attack the people you cared about to get to you, and a lot of those people can’t protect themselves. In Paris, if someone knew one of the hero’s identities and got akumatized, Hawkmoth could find out who they were from them and start targeting them as civilians.”

“Speaking of Hawkmoth, what does he want? I don’t think you actually explained that,” Tim said, leaving the topic of secret identities alone for a minute.

“He wants their Miraculouses,” Marinette said, as if that was obvious. The others exchanged a confused look.

“Angel, we don’t know what that means,” Damian said. Marinette frowned.

“Oh. The Miraculouses are magic jewelry,” Marinette explained, finally getting the knot in the ribbon to come loose. “They’re what give our heroes their superpowers.”

“I now have several more questions,” Dick spoke up as he raised his hand, “and most of them start with _what the fuck_? Like, are you sure Paris is real and not just a really complex fever dream?”

“I don’t think I can make it any less complicated than that,” Marinette said. She quickly unwrapped the ribbon from Jason’s wrists and ankle and wound it around her hand instead. “They’re magic superheroes and villains with magic jewelry and magic powers. It’s just how Paris is. Although, there was an akuma whose power was basically mass hallucinations...she was the worst.”

“Who was she? The way you said that implies there’s something more personal than just a run-of-the-mill villain,” Jason said, sitting up and rubbing his wrists.

“Lila Rossi,” Marinette said. She rolled her eyes and glanced at Damian. “The one who was calling you _Damiboo_ at lunch today.”

Damian shuddered at the memory. Marinette wasn’t sure if it was a genuine reaction or one he played up for her sake, but it made her giggle either way.

“Damiboo?” Dick asked.

“It’s a long story,” Marinette said.

“That we will _not_ be getting into right now,” Damian said, glaring at his brothers.

“Whatever you say, Damiboo,” Dick shrugged. Damian narrowed his eyes dangerously.

“Anyway, all we know is Hawkmoth wants to steal Ladybug and Chat Noir’s Miraculouses, and he has Mayura, a peacock themed Miraculous holder, helping him,” Marinette said in an attempt to keep Damian and his brothers from arguing. “Hawkmoth turns people into monsters to fight, and Mayura creates monsters to fight for people.”

“Paris is way more interesting than Gotham is!” Jason exclaimed. “I have about a million questions about everything.”

“I think those can wait, Jason,” Bruce said. “Marinette, if you knew our identities, why did you agree to spar with Jason?”

“It sounded fun, I guess? Plus, I knew he wouldn’t hurt me, and I have enough training that I could have held my own without him holding back,” Marinette said. “And after I was able to take him down last night, I just wasn’t worried. I really am sorry about breaking your helmet though, Jason. I’ll help you fix it if you want.”

“Tell you what, little lady: if you can beat Dick in a fight, we’ll call it even,” Jason said. “If not, we’ll blame my loss on my recent head injury and I’ll let you help me. Deal?”

“Oh, so that’s how this is going to go?” Marinette asked, raising an eyebrow. She already knew what her decision would be, but she made a show of pretending to weigh her options. “I will accept your terms, but only because everyone saw me beat you and I don’t plan on losing this match either.”

“Angel, Dick is the original Robin. He’s been fighting longer than Jason has,” Damian cautioned. Internally he was screaming. He had thought her going out alone the night before even after he warned her not to had been out of necessity, but there was no reason for her to agree to spar his brothers except for her own recklessness.

“Then I’ll be disappointed if he pulls his punches too,” Marinette teased. Dick scoffed and stood up.

“You won’t be able to distract me so easily this time, you know,” Dick said. “I’ll be expecting it.”

“I don’t think I’ll need to distract you to win,” Marinette said, making a huge choice as she visualized her plan. She was nervous, but she knew it was only fair. Besides, Jason was right about one thing...if she wanted to seriously date Damian, and she knew in that moment that she really did, he would find out eventually. And she couldn’t deny how nice it would be to have serious and experienced heroes supporting her. “I have other tricks up my sleeve.”

“You’re awfully confident, Marinette,” Bruce said as he sat back to watch. Alfred chose that moment to walk into the living room. He took in the scene and nodded once, offering her a secret smile. “How often do you fight against opponents that are more than twice your size?”

“Often enough,” Marinette said vaguely. “You’ll understand in a minute.”

Dick raised an eyebrow as he got ready to fight her. Marinette shook off her nerves and mirrored him. Once he saw she was ready, he charged at her.

He clearly hadn’t been paying close enough attention to her match with Jason.

Marinette let him get close and then dove under him, effectively moving out of his reach and knocking him off his feet. He didn’t stay down very long, however, and within seconds he was flipping back up off the ground.

 _That was surprisingly acrobatic,_ Marinette mused as Dick turned towards her again. She noticed he was right next to the couch she had left her purse on and altered her plan accordingly. _My gymnastics classes will be more useful here, then._

She rushed towards him this time. He clearly expected her to go for his legs again and knelt down to catch her when she did. Instead, she jumped up and vaulted over his shoulders with ease. She had tried to angle herself so she would land on the arm of the chair. Once she knew she would, she squeezed her eyes shut tight and whispered, “Spots on.”

A blinding pink light filled the room, and everyone shut their eyes against it. There was a zipping sound, then Dick yelled, and when they opened their eyes again, neither Marinette nor Dick were in the sparring space. Dick was sitting in what had been Marinette’s seat, wrapped in some kind of twine. Standing above him, with one black boot on the arm rest and one on the back of the chair, was a girl with black hair and blue eyes framed by a red and black spotted mask.

[The girl wore a black leotard with a ladybug symbol on her chest. Her neck, biceps, and thighs were red with black spots. She had black, elbow length gloves with red fingers, and thigh-high black boots. Hanging down her back was a small pair of translucent wings, and her hair was tied in two pigtails. She looked down at her outfit with a small, confused frown.](https://kaitlinmarley.tumblr.com/post/186828671097/so-one-of-my-best-friends-mindfulmagics-asked-me)

“Well, that’s new,” she muttered, twisting slightly to see her wings better.

“Wait, what?” everyone else in the room, sans Alfred, chorused in unison. She turned her attention back to them with a small smile.

“I told you I had other tricks, didn’t I?” the girl asked. “I figured since I knew your identities, I should trust you with mine as well. I could have done so less dramatically, but when Jason challenged me...well it presented a fun opportunity.”

“Angel?” Damian asked, looking up at her with wide eyes.

“Obviously, but most people call me Ladybug in the mask,” she said.

“Damian,” Tim hissed. “Did you know you were dating a magical Parisian superhero girl?”

“It wasn’t in her files, no,” Damian whispered back.

“So, did I win?” she asked, gesturing towards Dick. Bruce nodded once, clearly caught off guard by the sudden costume change, and Ladybug released Dick. She secured her yo-yo around her hip again before hopping off the chair.

“I now have several more questions,” Bruce eventually said.

“I had a feeling you would,” Ladybug said. “Spots off.”

A much softer pink light washed over her as her transformation melted away. Seconds later, Marinette was next to Damian on the couch again, only this time she had a small red creature that he could only describe as a fairy sitting on her head.

“I have a feeling I should probably give you guys a few more details before you start asking questions,” Marinette said. 

“You guys saw me transform, so you know I’m Ladybug. I have been since I received the Ladybug Miraculous, my earrings, at thirteen. Hawkmoth has gone to great lengths to try and take them from me already, which is why I reacted so violently when you accidentally touched my earring last night,” she explained, focusing most of her attention on Damian. “I didn’t just think you were robbing me, I thought you were taking something that I’ve almost died to protect.”

“Oh,” Damian whispered. He was still watching her with that awed, wide-eyed expression, but now she could see something else behind it. Pity? Worry? Anger? She couldn’t quite tell, but it surprised her enough that she paused.

“Is that why you hit Jason with the rock? You thought he was going to take your Miraculous?” Tim asked. She blinked twice and turned to look at him.

“No…not entirely, anyway. When you cornered me, I was trying to figure out a way to escape because without transforming, I wasn’t likely to win a fight that was three or up to four against one. Not without a plan that would give me an advantage. But I ended up backed against the wall and you were coming closer and then you called me ‘Princess’ and I just reacted,” Marinette said. “I suppose I got lucky that Jason called me that while he was wearing his helmet and not Dick or Tim…”

“You don’t like that nickname?” Dick asked, then shook his head. “You don’t have to tell us why, of course. But it’s good that we know so we don’t use it again.”

“‘We’ meaning Jason,” Tim said. “So, how many people know you’re Ladybug?”

“Seven people total,” Marinette said. “Unless there are people I haven’t told but figured it out and never told me...but I’ve only told the people in this room, and of course the Guardian back in Paris who gave me my Miraculous years ago knows who I am. He’s been training me to take his place.”

“Wait, so in four years, we’re the first people you’ve actually told?” Damian asked. “You must have been lonely…”

“I got used to it,” Marinette smiled ruefully. “Tikki and Master Fu helped, and Chat Noir was there for me at first...and then when he wasn’t I had Viperion and Ryuuko to rely on, so it wasn’t too bad.”

“Wait, if only seven people know...then your teammates don’t know who you are? What if you were hurt or trapped and couldn’t help? That doesn’t seem safe,” Tim noted.

“It was necessary. If they knew who I was and they were possessed or controlled by an akuma, or if they were akumatized themselves, then my identity could be compromised. I’m the only one who can purify the akuma and undo the damage it caused, so if I get caught or my Miraculous gets taken, it’s game over,” Marinette admitted.

“Who gives that kind of responsibility to a child?” Bruce asked. “Paris is huge, surely there could have been someone else, someone older who could take on that responsibility instead of taking a huge risk with a thirteen year old.”

“There wasn’t a lot of time,” Tikki spoke up. “Marinette really is the best person to wear the earrings, at least in Paris. But when Hawkmoth activated his Miraculous and sent out his first akuma, the Ladybug Miraculous had to be given to someone. Marinette resonated with me the best, so Fu tested her and gave her the Miraculous. He knew the risks of giving a child such a powerful Miraculous, and he knew that Hawkmoth was probably an adult which would make it even harder for her since adult Miraculous users can access more power, so he knew she would need backup. That’s why he gave out the Black Cat Miraculous as well. They’re supposed to balance each other out. The Cat is meant to be active and destructive and protect his Ladybug no matter what so Ladybug can summon her Lucky Charm, come up with a plan, purify the akuma, and undo the damage. Master Fu hoped that by putting out both, they would help each other grow into the Miraculouses and become stronger more quickly. Unfortunately, in his rush to find Marinette a suitable partner, he chose an irresponsible Chat Noir.”

“He never meant for me to be alone,” Marinette added. “The secrecy on his end was a result of his own fears. He is the last surviving member of the Order of the Guardians, who fell because he made a mistake. He’s desperate to not let that happen again.”

“If Chat Noir wasn’t responsible, though, why not just take his Miraculous away entirely and give it to someone new?” Dick asked.

“I honestly don’t know,” Marinette shrugged. “I think we were hoping he would get better, or that one day he would realize what he was doing and choose to improve and be a proper hero. More than that, though, I was stuck on the person he was when we first started working together. Yes, he was reckless and made a lot of jokes, but he was the one to encourage me to believe in myself and he made feel brave enough to challenge Hawkmoth after our first victory. Then he started lashing out because I didn’t return his feelings, and he would refuse to work with me after I turned him down…

“I didn’t want to think that was who he really was. He was still my Chat Noir, right? He was still my partner and still a hero, and he could pull it together if I really needed him; he was just busy or in a mood because of some girl in his class that was causing drama and didn’t want to take his frustration out on me...so I started turning to Viperion and Ryuuko more. I know them as civilians and we’re actually friends outside of the masks, which made them a good choice because if an akuma captured me as a civilian, I could trust that they would try to get me away as quickly as possible so I wouldn’t be hurt.”

While Marinette was talking about Chat Noir, Dick snuck a glance at Damian, who was clearly thinking about the best way to skin a cat. A quick look around the room confirmed that Jason was likely thinking the same thing but deciding a gun would be quicker, Tim was horrified, and Bruce seemed to be reconsidering his stance on murder. Alfred actually took a step closer to the emergency stash of weapons in the living room, but whether it was to take one himself or stop one of the boys from grabbing as many as they could and going on a cat-hunt, Dick couldn’t tell. It was probably both.

“You’re using the past tense to talk about him,” Tim observed when Marinette paused. “Does that mean Chat Noir isn’t a hero anymore? Or that you don’t see him as the boy you met anymore?”

“I know his identity,” Marinette admitted. “Thankfully he doesn’t know mine, as far as I know, but I found out his very recently. It made me realize he hasn’t been the person I thought he was for a long time...he hasn’t been a hero with or without the mask, and I’ve stopped calling on allies in the past for acting the way he has been. Now that I know, I can’t turn a blind eye for him when I haven’t for others. He simply hasn’t earned the right to continue having that much power. When we get back to Paris, I’m going to meet with the Guardian about taking his Miraculous away.”

“Will you find a replacement?” Damian asked.

“I,” Marinette started, but paused. There was no one in Paris that she really trusted enough...she could maybe give it to Luka or Kagami and retire their current Miraculouses, but they were a good match for their kwamis and they already understood their powers. Plus, aside from a few bitter articles on the Ladyblog, the people of Paris seemed to love them. And could she give them that kind of responsibility? They were still temporary heroes for a reason. 

Kagami’s mother had begun to allow her more free time since she became friends with Marinette, but she was still under a lot of pressure and often had difficulty escaping to transform when Ladybug needed help. Luka, on the other hand, had an easier time getting away from his friends and family when there was an akuma, but he was so invested in his music and Marinette didn’t want to get in the way of that. If there was an akuma during a gig or an audition and he was the Black Cat, he would be under more pressure to transform and come help her, and he had started brainstorming tour ideas as the band had gotten more popular. If he was her Cat, she knew he would put all of that on hold until after Hawkmoth was defeated, and she couldn’t bring herself to do that to him. As for Plagg, Marinette had a feeling he’d probably work better with Kagami than with Luka, but that match didn’t feel right to her. Marinette honestly didn’t know anyone in Paris that was both someone she trusted and someone who would be a good match for Plagg.

_If only Damian could...wait, what? Where did that come from?_

“I don’t know,” Marinette eventually said. “I’ll have to discuss it with Master Fu. Perhaps I’ll just make Viperion and Ryuuko permanent heroes and rely on them to come to as many attacks as they can.”

“You need support, Marinette. You can’t keep carrying all of this on your shoulders,” Bruce said. “I’ll give you my number, and you can call us if you need backup. Some of the Justice League members are magic users and if you told us what you needed, I’m sure we can find a few of them to help you.”

“Alfred already gave me your number for that purpose, actually,” Marinette said.

“He did? When?”

“When I was helping to calm her down, Master Bruce,” Alfred said. “I’d already figured out she was the Ladybug hero that Master Dick seemed reluctant to believe was real, so I took the liberty of offering your help.”

“How’d you figure her out?” Dick asked. 

“And why didn’t you tell us?” Tim added.

“Before I came to work for your family, I was also a Miraculous user. I wielded the Peacock Miraculous for several years, until a mission went sideways and I lost the brooch. It’s now being used by the villain Mayura,” Alfred said. “I didn’t tell you because it wasn’t my place to, Master Tim. In case you weren’t paying attention, you are the first people Miss Marinette has told. Surely you can understand why that is significant and why it was important she was the one to tell you, especially after everything she’s just explained.”

“Right,” Tim muttered. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Marinette assured. “I actually should probably call Master Fu...I think I need to update him on everything. Alfred, if he wanted to speak with you about when you had the Peacock Miraculous, would you be willing to talk about it? The Peacock Miraculous was lost a long time ago and he’s been looking for it ever since.”

“Of course,” Alfred said. “Do you want to use our landline? Or would you rather use your cell phone?”

“My phone is fine,” Marinette said as she stood up. “I should only be a few minutes.”

“Take your time, Angel,” Damian said. She smiled gratefully and walked out into the hall.

“Wéi? Nǐhǎo, Shīfu. Nǐ zěnmeyàng a?” Marinette asked, switching languages seamlessly as soon as Master Fu answered the phone.

“Tim. Timmy,” Jason hissed, waving to get Tim’s attention. “You’re the language ho, do you understand what she’s saying?”

“First of all, I’m a polyglot, not a language ho,” Tim said flatly. “Second, I speak Cantonese, and it sounds like she’s speaking Mandarin. Third, even if I did understand what she’s saying, I’m not going to spy on her! She just trusted us with something huge, Jason. Sure, she found out our identities, but she didn’t have to do anything about it, and she definitely didn’t have to tell us hers! Not when she’s never told anyone else before.”

“Her parents don’t even know,” Damian realized. “She asked Tikki if she should tell them...Marinette, the heroes in Paris, they aren’t like us. We’re a family of heroes. We have each other. We can trust each other to provide support or help us get away from our civilian lives if we need to go fight one of the rogues, but she doesn’t have any of that. So she has a partner that’s harassing her and a class that basically hates her and a family she has to lie to everytime she has to miss a family dinner because someone in the city felt a negative emotion! And that’s been going on for years…”

“Wait, back up. We still don’t know who Tikki is,” Dick pointed out. The little fairy that had been sitting on Marinette’s head zipped into the room and stopped right in front of his face, making him flinch back.

“I’m Tikki! I’m the kwami of creation,” she said, as if that explained anything. “I give Marinette her powers and allow her to turn into Ladybug.”

“Uh-huh,” Tim said, eyeing Tikki warily. The kwami-fairy sighed.

“It’s a very long story, so while Marinette is talking to Master Fu, I’ll start explaining,” Tikki said. She floated over to Damian and landed on his knee before she started from the beginning.

~*~*~*~

“Marinette? Why are you calling me from Gotham? Is everything okay?” Master Fu asked.

“I know who Chat Noir is,” Marinette said without preamble. “He still doesn’t know who I am, though. I found out when he said I was nothing like ‘his Lady’ in an argument.”

“I see. How would you like to proceed? He’s your partner, Marinette, and I’ve trained you well enough to know you won’t make a rash decision. Have you thought it over already?”

“I can’t condone his behavior anymore. I retired Rena Rouge and Queen Bee for not acting like heroes in their civilian lives, and Chat hasn’t been a hero in or out of the mask in years. I think the best course of action is to take his ring when we return to Paris. Acting now could risk my identity, and while it would prevent him from being akumatized immediately, I know he’ll be angry about it and his anger will only fester for the rest of the trip. I don’t want to risk getting off the plane with him and have him immediately be akumatized.”

“That sounds like a smart plan, Marinette. We can figure out what to do with the ring after we get it back.”

“Thank you,” Marinette said. She hesitated for a minute, then continued, “There is one more thing I need to tell you...Gotham’s heroes know my identity.”

“How did that happen?” Master Fu asked.

“I told them,” Marinette admitted. She explained everything that had been going on since she arrived in Gotham, from getting separated the first night, to being left behind two mornings in a row, to the maybe-a-date she went on with Damian the night before, and finally ending with them taking her in and why she revealed her identity. “They barely know me, but they’ve been so kind to me the entire time I’ve been here. It’s been a nice change of pace.”

“Gotham has a lot of heroes, from what I’ve heard...do they all know?”

“I’ve only met Batman and his four sons, so if there are more heroes than the five of them, then they don’t know.”

Master Fu was quiet for a moment, and Marinette waited for him to remind her why her identity was meant to remain a secret. Instead, he started laughing.

“Master Fu? Are you okay?”

“It sounds like you received your five blessings,” Master Fu said as he tried to calm himself down. Marinette frowned in confusion, but after a minute she understood the pun and started laughing as well.

“I can’t believe I didn’t make that connection,” Marinette said between giggles. She turned and glanced into the living room where Tikki was still explaining the history of the Miraculous. Damian noticed her watching them and smiled warmly, causing her to blush and wave before she turned away and walked further down the hall to focus better. “They’ve definitely been blessings.”

“Some more than others, perhaps?” Master Fu asked knowingly. Marinette blushed harder.

“Master Fu!”

“You sound happier than you have in years, Marinette. If this boy is making you happy, then I support you.”

Marinette was about to respond when she heard the sound of glass shattering in the living room. She ran back to the living room and almost dropped her phone when she saw who was standing in the room. He was facing the Wayne family, who had all stood to form a barrier between him and the hall Marinette was in. Tikki was hiding behind Damian’s back and flew over to her as soon Marinette was close enough.

“Chat Noir?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so the pun:
> 
> Bats (especially 5 bats together) are considered lucky in China because the word for bat (fú 蝠) sounds like the word for fortune/good luck (fú 福). 5 bats together is significant because it represents the five blessings in Chinese culture (longevity, wealth, health, virtue, and a natural/peaceful death). Marinette met 5 members of the Batfam, so Master Fu is saying they're her five bats but also her blessings.
> 
> Also he ships Marinette with happiness so if she's happy he supports her.
> 
> ALSO ALSO: Huge shout-out to KaitlinMarley for the AMAZING art of Ladybug's new suit! I'm so excited she looks amazing!!!!


	9. No One's Princess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chat Noir crashes the party (literally) and demonstrates to the Wayne family exactly what Marinette and Ladybug have been dealing with for the last few years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys are going to hate Chat/Adrien in this chapter. I know because I hate him in this. So just, be warned, he can't take a hint.
> 
> The Batfam also understand exactly why Marinette hates being called Princess now.

“Chat Noir?” Marinette asked once Tikki was safely back in her purse. Damian turned at the sound of her voice and moved closer to her. It wasn’t until he put his hand on her back that she realized she was trembling. “What are you doing here?”

“Princess, there you are! I’ve come to rescue you!” Chat Noir said. “I got a call from your classmates who said that these scoundrels had kidnapped you from your class trip and was asked to come bring you back to them.”

“Oh, fuck no,” Dick muttered, his eyes narrowing as he glanced between a seemingly terrified Marinette and the wannabe hero who wanted to ‘rescue’ her. This was her joke of a partner, and if he was the reason she hated being called Princess too...

“Scoundrels? Us?” Jason asked. “Who the h-e-double-fuck do you think you’re talking to?”

“It doesn’t matter. You kidnapped my Princess, and I’m here to bring her home,” Chat Noir said. “I am her knight in shining leather, after all.”

“His Princess?” Tim whispered, making the same connection Dick did. He nudged Jason, whose eyes widened once he realized what Tim was getting at.

“Oh shit,” Jason muttered.

Damian glanced at Marinette and noticed she was incredibly pale, but her blue eyes burned with that same fury she had directed at the Agreste boy in the park.

“You’re not my anything, Chat Noir, and I’m not your Princess,” Marinette hissed. “You only care about me because I won’t just go along with whatever you want, and you seem to think that if you ‘save’ me enough times, I’ll suddenly agree with you.”

“Oh, come on, Princess,” Chat said. Glass crunched under his boot as he stepped closer. Damian moved in front of Marinette protectively, and the rest of his family closed ranks to keep him from getting near her. “I told you, I had my reasons for not going to as many akuma fights. My Lady is perfectly capable of handling herself, especially with help from Ryuuko and the Viper, but Hawkmoth wants both of our Miraculouses. It makes more sense for me to be the last line of defense, just in case Ladybug lost her earrings. That way she can just go get another Miraculous and we still have a chance to get hers back.”

“You were supposed to be her partner! She defended you for years, and yet you expect me to believe your ‘Brat Chat’ tantrums from her turning you down were really just you being strategic about protecting your Miraculous?” Marinette asked incredulously. “I’ve heard all of your excuses and your stories when you would come to my balcony to justify yourself. I don’t want to listen to any more, not when you know I know the truth.”

“Then I won’t make you listen,” Chat reasoned. “Just let me bring you back to your class. They were worried and upset when you were taken from the park.”

“I wasn’t abducted, Chat Noir! I chose to leave the class! It was my decision and my parents approved so whoever told you I was ‘taken’ had severely misinterpreted that entire conversation,” Marinette said. “You can leave now. I’m happy where I am.”

“I can’t leave you here, Princess. You were upset about being left behind and I understand that, but I know you’ll be happier with your classmates. Besides, you got what you wanted. Lila was exposed and now they’ll pay attention to you again. They’ll be your friends again, but they can’t be your friends again if you stay locked up here. I’m doing you a favor.”

“You need to leave,” Bruce ordered. “Now.”

“Not without her,” Chat said, taking another step closer.

“She doesn’t want to go with you,” Damian snapped. He grabbed a sword he had stashed away in the living room and pushed between his brothers to get in Chat’s face. “Angel, go up to your room and call for help. We’ll distract him.”

“So that’s how you want to do this,” Chat growled, glaring at Damian. He didn’t look away when Marinette ran off, but Dick and Jason both noticed his ears twitch in her direction. Dick ground his teeth together and caught Jason’s eyes before he nodded towards the hall. Jason ran after her while Dick moved to guard the door. “I didn’t come here to fight anyone, but I suppose I can defend my Princess’s honor from a brat like you.”

“Damian,” Bruce cautioned as the boy took a step back and held his sword to Chat Noir’s throat.

“Yes, Father,” Damian said. His shoulders relaxed almost imperceptibly, and his family let out a breath they didn’t realize they were holding. At least they knew Damian wouldn’t kill this kid unless he absolutely had to.

Chat rolled his eyes and swung his baton at Damian as hard as he could. Damian dodged easily and jumped out of the way, but he could hear the air snap as the baton cut through where he had been standing. 

“Oh, fancy reflexes,” Chat said sarcastically. “You’re not going to win this fight, kid. I have powers that you don’t stand a chance against. Just let me bring my Princess home and we can all forget this ever happened.”

“I’d advise against calling her that again,” Tim said sharply. 

“She loves when I call her Princess,” Chat said. “She’s just mad right now.”

“Has she ever told you she likes it? Or did you just decide she did?” Tim countered. The others shot him a surprised look.

“I know she likes it. I’ve known her for years, and I’ve been calling her that the entire time. You only just met her, and you think you know how she feels better than I do?” Chat snarled. He went to continue, but the sound of a gun being loaded silenced him.

“I suggest you leave,” Alfred said calmly, holding a rifle towards Chat. “Unless you’d like to find out how bulletproof that suit of yours really is.”

“Are you trying to intimidate me?” Chat scoffed. “Fine. Cataclysm!”

Damian wasn’t ready to dodge the arm that dropped the baton to reach out and grab him by the collar. Chat Noir stepped closer and held his other hand next to Damian’s face, so he could clearly see the black magic bubbling in Chat’s palm.

“I’ll say this one more time: let me take my Princess back to her class, or you’ll find out what happens when pure destructive energy touches a person, okay?”

~*~*~*~

As soon as Marinette ran out of the room, she bolted up the stairs and to the bedroom Damian had shown her to when she got to the manor. She started pacing anxiously and began weighing her options before she heard her name come from the phone. She checked it and realized she never hung up on Master Fu.

“Marinette, what is happening?” Master Fu demanded.

“Chat Noir is here. He broke in...he’s trying to drag me back to the class and I’m worried he’ll hurt them if I don’t go but I can’t go back,” Marinette said. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Take a deep breath,” Master Fu instructed. There was a loud knock on her door as she breathed in, and she screamed on the exhale.

“Hey, relax, it’s just me,” Jason called. “You gonna let me in?”

“Who is that?”

“It’s Jason...he just came up to check on me,” Marinette said. She went to open the door slowly. As soon as she stepped away from it, Jason closed and locked the door behind them.

“Are you okay?” Jason asked.

“I don’t know what to do,” Marinette admitted. She was still shaking, though she couldn’t tell if it was out of fear or anger or a mix of the two. “I wasn’t ready to face him like this...in Paris is one thing, but to have to face him now with no plan?”

“Hey, breathe,” Jason said soothingly. He guided her over to the bed and had her sit down, then knelt down facing her. “I know you’re a good planner, Marinette. You took me down with a ribbon and a remote control. You took advantage of me challenging you to fight Dick to make a plan to tell us your identity in a way that simultaneously won you that sparring match. Not to mention, I read some of the articles on the Ladyblog. I didn’t believe any of it until I saw you transform, but you’ve come up with plans that would put any strategist to shame. You can come up with a plan now, even if you decide that your plan is to stay here while we take care of Chat. We may have been bested by a pipsqueak, but I promise, we really are heroes. We can and will protect you if you need us to.”

“If Chat followed me here, he won’t leave without me. Not without a fight, and that will get you guys hurt,” Marinette whispered. “But just kicking him out won’t help. He’ll just come back, or he’ll keep stalking me like it’s some sick game of cat and mouse.”

“Okay. If you’re worried about us getting in a fight, what are you worried he’ll do to us?”

“I’m worried he’ll cataclysm one of you. He can only use it once, but I don’t actually know what it would do to you. He was hit by it once, by an akuma that used his power against him, and though I don’t know how bad it was, I know it caused serious internal damage. But Jason, he was protected by a magic suit powered by the god of destruction and it still caused that much damage. That god is what wiped out the dinosaurs. If it touched someone that wasn’t protected...it might kill them. I can’t risk you guys like that.”

“Marinette, I think you have to take his ring away,” Master Fu said. “I know why you wanted to wait, but Chat is forcing your hand. You’re stronger than he is, and your Miraculous resonates with you better than it resonates with him. You can beat him. You’ve done it before.”

“How do I explain Ladybug being in Gotham?”

“Tell him Marinette panicked and called you, and you used the Horse Miraculous to open a portal to Gotham. Go take care of this, and let me know when it’s over.”

“Okay,” Marinette said softly, finally hanging up the call. Jason watched determination fill her eyes as she shook herself off and stood up. This time, her voice was much stronger. “Okay, I have a plan.”

“There you go,” Jason said proudly. “Do you need backup? I can go get my helmet.”

“Go get it,” Marinette said slowly, her eyes darting around the room as she adjusted her plan to account for him. “Get it, but don’t interfere unless I really need help. You still don’t have any magic to protect you from his cataclysm, and while my cure should reverse any damage it causes, I don’t want to push my luck. Besides, this is my fight. I know you all want to help, but he’s my partner, and I’m the future Guardian of the Miraculouses. It’s my responsibility.”

“Whatever you say, little lady,” Jason smiled. “I’ll meet you outside.”

“See if you can keep up,” Marinette teased. She walked to the window and transformed, then jumped through it and swung up to the roof. Jason shook his head and ran off to change.

Ladybug landed on the roof silently and began to walk across it to where the living room must have been. A sound behind her when she got close made her whirl around too quickly, and she slipped on one of the tiles and lost her balance. She almost fell and reached for her yo-yo, but the new wings on her suit caught her first. They lifted her back up to the roof, and she hovered there for a minute before landing a little way away from the edge.

“That’s new,” she muttered, making a mental note to ask Tikki about the new costume when she had a chance. She finally looked up to see who had startled her, and shook her head when she saw Red Hood. “I would have thought you boys would know better than to sneak up on me after last night.”

“Sorry, Pipsqueak,” Red Hood whispered. “I just didn’t want the cat to hear us coming. Nice wings, though. I didn’t realize they would actually let you fly.”

“I didn’t either,” Ladybug admitted. “But that’s a later problem. I’m going to try to use them to get closer so he doesn’t hear my yo-yo.”

She took a breath and focused on her wings, willing them to lift her off the rooftop. It took a few seconds, but soon enough her wings were fluttering behind her and her feet were no longer touching the roof. She flew over the ledge and down to the shattered window. She reached it at the same time she heard the cocking of a gun.

“I suggest you leave,” Alfred said calmly. She peered through the window to see him holding a rifle towards Chat. “Unless you’d like to find out how bulletproof that suit of yours really is.”

“Are you trying to intimidate me?” Chat scoffed. “Fine. Cataclysm!”

Ladybug bit back a scream as Chat reached out and grabbed Damian by the collar. He stepped closer and held his other hand next to Damian’s face, so he could clearly see the black magic bubbling in Chat’s palm.

“I’ll say this one more time: let me take my Princess back to her class, or you’ll find out what happens when pure destructive energy touches a person, okay?”

In seconds, Ladybug’s yo-yo was zipping towards Chat. She hooked it around his wrist and pulled firmly as she landed on the window ledge for balance, dragging Chat’s hand away from Damian.

“My Lady?” Chat asked, turning to look at her over his shoulder. “You look different.”

“Are you an akuma, Chat Noir, or just stupid?” Ladybug hissed. “What were you thinking?”

“They kidnapped Marinette—”

“Marinette is the one who called me here, Chat Noir,” Ladybug snapped. “She said you showed up in Gotham and started attacking her new friends and she was supposed to call for help but she didn’t know who to call. Now I’ll ask you again, what the hell do you think you’re doing here?”

“I was trying to bring her back to her class,” Chat said. “She barely knows them, she could be in danger and not realize it.”

“Chat Noir, she is old enough to take care of herself and from what I understand, she’s probably safer with these people than she is with her class,” Ladybug said. “But you are a person with superpowers who just broke into a private residence in a foreign country and started attacking civilians to ‘take back’ a girl who didn’t want to leave with you. Do you have _any idea_ how much trouble you would be in if the cops had shown up here before me? This was a reckless, stupid, and quite honestly self-centered action that could have been avoided by respecting your friend’s choices. But you don’t know anything about respect, do you?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means, Chat Noir, that as the next Guardian of the Miraculous, I have deemed you too immature to continue wearing your ring.”

“What?” Chat screeched, trying to pull his arm away from her yo-yo. Ladybug just pulled it tighter. “You’re going to take my ring away for trying to protect a Parisian citizen?”

“You aren’t trying to protect her, Chat, and we both know it, so stop lying to yourself. This was about you,” Ladybug snapped, “and this isn’t the only reason I’m taking your Miraculous. For years, you have been reckless, selfish, and petty while transformed. You’ve refused to respect not only my privacy regarding my identity but the privacy of the other heroes and the current Guardian. You’ve thrown tantrums when you don’t get what you want. To put it plainly, Chat Noir, you haven’t been a hero in or out of the mask, and I should have taken your ring away a long time ago.”

“Wait, you know who I am?” Chat asked, his eyes wide. In his shock he let go of Damian and grabbed her yo-yo string, trying to free his wrist.

“Yes, Chat Noir. I know who you are. Marinette told me when she called. Now, are you going to admit that you don’t deserve your ring? Or are you going to make me fight you?” His ring beeped once, drawing their attention to it. “You only have four minutes before your transformation drops one way or the other. Please don’t make this harder.”

“I’m not the one making this hard! If you had just realized you loved me back, we could have really been partners! We could have understood each other! We wouldn’t have to fight, we wouldn’t need the other heroes, it could just be us! It was supposed to just be us! But you wouldn’t admit that you were meant to be mine and—”

Damian interrupted Chat by swinging the baton Chat dropped at his head. A hit like that would have killed a normal person, but thankfully Chat was transformed so he just landed hard on his knees in a daze. Ladybug tsked and looked around the room.

“Could someone hand me a magazine? I want to get this over with.”

“Here,” Dick said curtly, picking up one of the magazines she had knocked over in her sparring match against Jason that afternoon. 

She rolled the magazine up and pressed it into the magic surrounding Chat’s hand. It absorbed the destructive energy and crumbled to dust in her fingers, just like she knew it would. Once it was gone and Ladybug was sure his cataclysm was no longer active, she slid the ring off his finger and dropped it into a compartment in her yo-yo for safe keeping. A green light flashed as soon as the ring was off his finger, and a detransformed Chat Noir was left kneeling on the ground in the middle of the Waynes’ living room. Ladybug stepped over him and went straight to Damian.

“Are you okay?” she asked, fussing over him to check for injuries.

“I’m fine, I swear,” Damian reassured her.

Dick, meanwhile, went to restrain the former Chat Noir. When he grabbed the boy’s arm, a disturbingly familiar face looked up at him with a pathetic expression.

“You?” Dick snarled, startling his family. Ladybug flinched, but otherwise continued to quietly fret over Damian for getting too close to him. “You’re the dumpster fire that’s been playing at being a hero?”

“I am a hero!”

Dick cut him off with a swift backhanded slap. He didn’t put all of the rage he was feeling into the hit, but it was enough to get the blonde to shut up.

“Heroes don’t attack civilians! They don’t harass innocent girls, and they don’t shirk their responsibilities the way I heard you have been,” he snapped.

“Dick, you know this kid?” Tim asked, stepping closer to get a better look.

“Yeah, he’s the asshole that made Marinette cry at the Wayne Enterprises tour yesterday,” Dick said.

“That’s the Agreste kid, isn’t it?” Bruce asked, already knowing the answer. There was only one kid in Marinette’s class that matched Chat Noir’s description, and if Dick recognized him from the class tour, Gabriel Agreste’s son was the most logical conclusion.

“Yes, yes it is,” Dick growled. Adrien cowered away as much as he could with Dick still holding him by the arm. 

Damian tried to get around Ladybug to go give Adrien a piece of his mind, but she discreetly grabbed his hand and led him to where Bruce, Tim, and Alfred were standing.

“I won’t ask you not to call the cops,” she said without preamble. “He broke into your home and he threatened your family, and I’ll understand if you choose to get the police involved. The one thing I will ask is that you don’t tell them he was Chat Noir. He may not have been a hero but he still had a secret identity, and I think it’s better if people don’t know.”

“We understand,” Bruce assured her. “In a situation as peculiar as this, I might be more inclined to let it slide. But as you know, we have a guest staying with us and he made her feel unsafe in our home. That isn’t something I can forgive.”

“Yeah, he scared Marinette,” Tim said coldly, glaring over at Adrien. “Jail is too good for him.”

“I can think of about a dozen ways to skin a cat right now,” Damian threatened.

“Then it’s probably a good thing I skinned him in the way that matters,” Ladybug said in an attempt to sound soothing. “Speaking of, I should go get this ring somewhere safe. Do you want me to clean up his mess or should we leave it for the cops to see? I don’t know how perceptive your police force is, but Adrien Agreste doesn’t have any weapons on him that could do this kind of damage.”

“That...actually sounds like a smart plan,” Tim admitted. “Especially since you asked not to let the police know about Chat Noir. We’ll open a window instead and say he got in that way.”

“What about fingerprints?” Bruce asked.

“We can open the window in the kitchen, Master Bruce. I’ll say I left it open for a breeze while I was cooking earlier and forgot to close it, and he came in through there while I was out of the room,” Alfred said. “As for any fingerprints that should be on the windowsill, he could have used his overshirt or the jacket he’s wearing to cover his hands.”

“It’s not airtight but there’s enough evidence pointing to the fact that he did break in,” Damian said. “And if he has any shred of intelligence he won’t admit that he used magic jewelry to intimidate us into letting him take my angel away against her will.”

Bruce, Alfred, Tim, and Dick shared a surprised look that Damian didn’t notice. His attention was already split between glaring daggers at Adrien and looking at Ladybug with a shockingly soft expression. Ladybug just nodded quietly and Alfred left the room to go call the police and open the kitchen window.

“Miraculous Ladybug,” she whispered, throwing her yo-yo in the air. Swarms of small, shimmering ladybugs flew around the living room, reversing all of the damage Chat Noir had caused.

“Whoa,” Dick whispered. He looked away from Adrien for a minute to watch the magic work, but his grip didn’t lighten at all.

“Gotham’s heroes could use something like that,” Bruce said with a small smile.

“I really should get going now,” Ladybug said. “I’d stay to meet the cops but I don’t want to accidentally start an international incident. Plus it’s better if people back in Paris don’t realize I was here.”

“Of course,” Bruce said. 

Ladybug waved and walked over to one of the windows. She undid the latch and swung it open, then flew out into the sunset.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this satisfied at least some of the Adrien salt. I'm not done with him just yet, so expect to see more of him in the next couple of chapters. I'm not redeeming him, though. He only gets worse from here.
> 
> On the plus side, the Batfam are starting to realize how quickly and thoroughly Marinette has wormed her way into their hearts, so that's fun. They might not all be able to put it into words yet ~~*cough*Damian*cough*~~ but they're getting there.


	10. Welcome to the Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick and Jason help Marinette and Damian start to come to terms with things

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of emotions in this one. Also a lot of confusion from the Batfam regarding Damian's behavior.

Red Hood was still waiting for her when she touched down on the roof. He noticed she was shaking and put a hand on her shoulder to steady her.

“You did it,” he said proudly. 

“He almost cataclysmed Damian,” she whispered. “When I got to the window, his hand was right there and charged and if anyone so much as sneezed he could have killed Damian…”

“Is he alive?”

“Yeah, I got there just in time to get his hand away from Damian and distract him—”

“No, Marinette, I figured Damian was okay. I meant Chat Noir. Did Damian kill him?”

“What? No, of course not,” Ladybug said, frowning. “I led Damian away from him and over to your father. He was angry but he only tried to get around me once.”

“Huh. Well, let’s get you back inside before you almost fall off the roof again, okay?” Red Hood suggested, holding out his hand for her to take. She did, and he helped her back to her window. Once she was safely inside, she opened her yo-yo to release Plagg and took out the ring.

“I tried to keep the kid from coming here, Ladybug, I really did,” Plagg apologized. “He stopped listening to me years ago and any time I try to lecture him, he either renounces me or transforms. I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, Plagg. I should probably go back downstairs...you can either stay here and I’ll bring some cheese up once Adrien is gone, or you can come with me and sit in my purse with Tikki,” Ladybug said. “But if you come downstairs, you _have_ to stay hidden. We can’t risk Adrien knowing you’re still here.”

“I understand. I’ll come with you,” Plagg said.

Ladybug nodded and dropped her transformation. Tikki immediately flew to Plagg and hugged him tightly. Marinette watched with a small smile until Jason cleared his throat behind her.

“I take it that’s Chat Noir’s kwami fairy thing?” Jason asked, holding his mask under his arm. Plagg bristled.

“Who are you?” he demanded.

“This is Jason. One of Gotham’s heroes,” Marinette interrupted. “They know about my identity and the Miraculouses already. We can trust them.”

“I hope you’re right, kid,” Plagg said, eyeing Jason warily.

“She is, don’t worry. We won’t hurt her,” Jason said. “I’m going to go change and then we can go back downstairs? I’m sure Damian is getting antsy.”

“Okay. If you take more than five minutes, though, I’m going down without you,” Marinette said.

“Not all of us have magical girl transformations, okay? Some of us have to change clothes the normal way,” Jason sassed, sticking out his tongue at her. Marinette burst out laughing and he left the room to change.

Less than five minutes later, Jason was knocking on Marinette’s door again. He escorted her back to the living room, the two kwamis safely tucked away in Marinette’s purse. As soon as they got to the ground floor, Marinette took off down the hallway towards the living room. She would have crashed right into Damian if he hadn’t heard her coming and opened his arms to catch her. He hugged her tightly, completely oblivious to the shocked looks from his family.

“What the fuck?” Jason mouthed as he got closer, gesturing to the duo. The others just shrugged uselessly.

“I was so worried…” Marinette said quietly. She was still shaking from her anger at Adrien and fear for Damian and his family.

“We’re okay, Angel,” Damian promised. He started running his fingers through her hair in a soothing motion. “We’re all fine. He didn’t hurt us.”

“But he _could_ have,” Marinette said, her voice cracking slightly.

“Princess, you know I wouldn’t have—”

“Don’t call her that!” Tim snapped, rushing towards Adrien. Bruce and Jason were barely able to restrain him in time.

“Tim, you need to calm down,” Bruce said quietly. “The police will be here soon.”

Tim clenched his jaw and shook off his father and Jason, then stalked to a corner of the room to seethe. Bruce looked from him to Damian, who was holding onto Marinette like she was the only thing in the world that mattered instead of trying to kill the person who broke into their home and attacked them, and realized that maybe Jason hadn’t been too far off in his teasing.

_I guess we really do need to get to know this girl better...they’ve all adopted her into the family already, whether they know it or not, and Damian isn’t going to let her go any time soon..._

“I have one question before they get here,” Adrien asked hesitantly. The Wayne family glared at him, but he raised his hands in surrender. “I just want to know how you got Ladybug here. I didn’t know she was going to be in Gotham.”

“She wasn’t in Gotham, Adrien,” Marinette said, her voice quiet and somewhat unsteady. “She gave me her number years ago when she realized our class was where most of the akumas came from and she wanted one of us to have a way to contact her in an emergency. When you showed up here as Chat, I called her and she used a portal to get here, and presumably one to get home too.”

“Oh,” Adrien muttered, falling silent again.

It didn’t take long for the police to show up after that. Two officers escorted Adrien out of the house while a couple stayed back to take statements. They questioned Bruce, Alfred, first, then Dick and Jason. When they asked Tim and Damian to answer some questions, Damian was reluctant to leave Marinette alone until she promised him she would be okay. Damian had only been gone a few minutes when Bruce walked over with an older man with thick rimmed glasses and a brown trench coat.

“Are you Marinette?” the man asked. Marinette nodded and stood up from the couch. “I’m Commissioner Gordon. Bruce was telling me that you know the boy that broke in?”

“Yes, sir. He’s in my class...we’re in Gotham on a school trip,” Marinette said.

“A school trip, huh? Where are you from?” Gordon asked kindly.

“Paris,” Marinette said.

“I see. Are you okay if I ask you a few questions about what happened here tonight, and your relationship with this boy?” Gordon asked. Marinette shrugged and nodded, and the commissioner gestured for her to sit back down. “How old are you, Marinette?”

“Sixteen, almost seventeen,” Marinette said as she sat down.

“Okay. Bruce mentioned he was acting as your guardian for your stay in Gotham, so he’ll stay here with us while we talk, okay?” Marinette nodded, and Gordon smiled. “Why don’t you tell me about the boy that broke in here?”

“His name is Adrien Agreste. He’s been in my class at school for the last four years. We were friends, and at one point I would have called him my best friend, but that was a long time ago.”

“What happened between you two that you aren’t best friends anymore?”

“He—we just grew apart, I guess,” Marinette shrugged. Gordon frowned.

“Do you know why he broke in tonight? Has he ever been violent before?”

“He’s...protective,” Marinette hedged. “He, he thinks he knows what’s best for his friends. He said he was worried about me leaving the class trip.”

“Why did you leave the class trip?”

“I kept getting left behind. My teacher wasn’t paying attention, and neither were my classmates.”

“Including your friend, Adrien?”

“Yes.”

“So if he wasn’t worried about your safety when you were being left behind, why was he worried enough to break into someone’s home for you?”

“I, I don’t know,” Marinette whispered. Bruce noticed she had started shaking again and caught Commissioner Gordon’s attention, signalling that they should move into the hall. Gordon nodded and stood up.

“Marinette, please excuse us for a minute. We’ll be right back,” Gordon said. Marinette nodded, and the two men stepped out of the room.

“She’s not going to answer your questions right now,” Bruce said. “It’s like she won’t let herself.”

“Is she protecting the kid that broke in?” Gordon asked.

“I think so,” Bruce said. “Gordon, from what I could tell, that kid was harassing and emotionally manipulating her at the very least. He’s been doing that to her for years, and I’m not sure if she even knows that’s what he was doing. She might need some time to really be able to talk about it.”

“Do you think she might talk about it to one of your sons? I’m an old guy with a badge, but they’re people she seems to trust already, especially Damian,” Gordon said. “What’s up with that, by the way? I’ve always known him to be rather...closed off, but he didn’t want to leave her alone earlier.”

“We have no idea,” Bruce admitted. “He only just met her, but he’s drawn to her in a way that I didn’t think was possible. She keeps him calm, and he’s actually smiling and hugging her willingly and he’s very protective of her. All the boys are, actually, but not as much as Damian. He called her his angel.”

“Are you sure that’s actually Damian?” Gordon asked. Dick came around the corner and walked towards them.

“What are you gossiping about?” he asked. “Did you finish talking to Marinette already?”

“No, actually,” Gordon said.

“We think she’s protecting the Agreste kid,” Bruce said.

“Why? He broke in trying to abduct her!”

“Dick, you heard the way he talked to and about her. And remember what she was saying about not wanting to see the truth? She figured out he wasn’t a good person but I don’t think she’s come to terms with everything else yet,” Bruce pointed out. “She may not even understand it well enough to have come to terms with it, or to have words to really talk about it.”

“Can I try talking to her?” Dick asked. “She doesn’t know me all that well but she might let me in.”

“It’s worth a shot,” Gordon said.

“Gordon, is her statement essential to getting any charges to stick?” Bruce asked.

“Technically, you know I’m not supposed to give legal advice on stuff like this, Bruce. That’s what lawyers are for. Now, if you want my opinion, it’s not essential that she actually give a statement, but it would be helpful in getting a burglary charge to really stick,” Gordon said. “We won’t know the specifics of what will happen until we talk to the French Consulate, which one of the officers should be reaching out to them now. But whether she gives a statement or not, someone should really sit down and talk to her about it, and it would be better if it was someone she trusted. So Dick, if you want to talk to her, I think you should.”

Dick nodded and walked into the living room. Marinette was sitting on the couch facing away from him, so he gave her a wide berth and came into her line of sight from a safe distance. The last thing he wanted was to sneak up on her again. He could see her hands shaking slightly where she was resting them over her purse, and her jaw was clenched as if she was trying to force her emotions down.

“You okay, sweetheart?” Dick asked to catch her attention. She shrugged, so he went over to sit on the couch next to her. “You want to talk about it?”

“I don’t know,” Marinette said.

“Okay. Then I can just sit here and keep you company until Damian is done talking to the officer about what happened. If you decide you want to talk, I’ll be here to listen, but you don’t have to.”

Marinette nodded, and Dick settled back against the couch to wait. After a few minutes, he noticed Marinette was wiping her eyes with the back of her hand and passed her the box of tissues that was on the coffee table. She took one with a shaky attempt at a smile and dabbed at her eyes. Dick smiled sympathetically and started rubbing soothing circles on her back.

“I don’t know why he came here,” Marinette admitted. “I mean, I know why. He said why. I just, I don’t understand why.”

Dick stayed quiet. She needed to at least start working this out on her own, and he didn’t want to interrupt that.

“He knew I was upset with him. Every conversation we’ve had since we got to Gotham has been an argument, and I know we don’t argue that much at home but…”

“But?” Dick prompted.

“When he’s mad at me...he leaves. He avoids me. He ignores me and he throws fits and I always have to be the one to apologize, regardless of why he’s mad…” Marinette trailed off, taking a deep breath to will herself to stop crying. It didn’t work, and she grabbed a few extra tissues as the next wave of tears streamed down her cheeks. “I guess I thought that if I was mad at him, he would understand if I avoided him. Or that he would be just as mad and avoid me. I never thought he would follow me here...if I had known he would come in here like that and attack you I never would have left the class…”

“Marinette, look at me.” Dick leaned down so he was closer to her height and waited patiently for her to turn towards him, still rubbing her back for comfort. It took a minute, but eventually she felt she was composed enough to look at him. “What happened tonight wasn’t your fault. He didn’t come here because you did anything. He came here to intimidate you and scare you into doing what he wanted.”

“No, that’s not—”

“Yes, Marinette, it is,” Dick insisted gently. “You said it yourself, he only cared because you weren’t agreeing with him, and you said he’s come to your balcony to throw tantrums before. You said he doesn’t know the first thing about respect. You know he came here for himself, so what’s different now? What’s really upsetting you?”

“I was just angry. I was exaggerating because I was mad at him for following me here…”

“I don’t think that’s true. He was twisting what happened to make himself look better. He tried to tell you we kidnapped you, and that he just wanted to bring you back to your friends, but when you said no he got angry. Right?”

“Yes…”

“I promise I’m not saying any of this to upset you, Marinette, but he was manipulating you. I think he probably has been for a long time.”

Marinette shook her head and more tears ran down her cheeks. Dick handed her another tissue to dry her eyes with.

“I know you’re trying to protect the person he was when you met. I know you still care about that person, but sweetheart, you met him a long time ago. He’s not that person anymore, you know that.”

“I thought I could deal with him quietly, though...without getting other people involved. I thought if I waited until we went back to Paris to deal with it, I could handle it by myself and no one would get hurt…”

“It’s not your fault. He decided that for you when he broke in here. You couldn’t just ignore that and wait, or else he could have hurt someone or tried coming after you again.”

“I didn’t want to ruin his future...if he goes to jail—”

“Marinette, sweetheart, don’t ever say that again. _He_ ruined his future. _He_ chose to commit a crime. And now he needs to face the consequences of his actions,” Dick said firmly. “You did nothing wrong. You didn’t even call the police on him, Marinette. You have done nothing but try and see the best in him when he didn’t deserve it, and that’s not your responsibility. You are not responsible for making horrible people feel better about themselves, or setting an example for them to follow, or whatever you’ve been told in the past that’s making you blame yourself now. When people do bad things, they need to face the consequences for those things so they can hopefully understand why those things were bad and not do them again. And Adrien breaking into the manor to try and abduct you wasn’t just a bad thing, it was a crime. A potentially very serious crime. I don’t know how all of the legal stuff will work out, but no matter what consequences he faces, this is because of his actions and not yours.”

Marinette took a couple of shaky breaths to calm down, but the last one came out a sob. Dick wrapped his arm around her shoulders to comfort her better, and Marinette turned and hugged him tightly. She hid her face in his shoulder and cried until she couldn’t anymore.

~*~*~*~

Damian finished answering the officer’s questions as quickly as possible so he could go back to Marinette and check on her. When he got to the living room, however, the first thing that he heard was her sobbing. He looked into the room and saw her on the couch with Dick holding her, crying her heart out. Something inside him twisted painfully, so he stepped back into the hall and looked at his brothers and father that were standing outside the living room with Commissioner Gordon.

“What happened?” Damian demanded. “I thought you were getting her statement?”

“I was, but she didn’t want to tell me anything,” Gordon said. “We sent Dick in to figure out why.”

“She thought what happened tonight was her fault. She was trying to protect Adrien because she thought if he went to jail, it meant she ruined his future,” Tim summarized. “Apparently, he really did a number on her emotions.”

“I don’t think it was just him,” Bruce said. “When I was arguing with her teacher today, she said she usually relies on Marinette to set a good example for the other students, and she couldn’t understand why Marinette was acting out on this trip.”

“But she wasn’t acting out! She was being left behind!” Damian exclaimed. “And what does she mean by setting a good example? Why is that important right now?”

“When she mentioned being worried about Adrien going to jail, Dick pointed out that she shouldn’t have to make horrible people feel better about themselves or set an example for them to follow,” Bruce said. “It reminded me of what her teacher said. If her teacher was encouraging Marinette to always be on her best behavior to set a better example in class, while also believing that Marinette was the type of student to stray from the group or put herself in danger for attention or just to act out, I get the feeling she let a lot of things slide in favor of encouraging her students to police each other’s behavior.”

“So not only are her classmates terrible to her and the Agreste kid manipulating her emotions, her teacher was expecting her to always be the better person?” Damian asked. The painful twisting sensation he felt when he saw Marinette cry came back with a vengeance.

“It explains why she had such a hard time with this,” Tim said. “She always has to be positive and take care of others and make sure she’s not punishing other people when there’s good in them somewhere, even if it’s really, really deep down…it’s a lot of pressure.”

“Yeah, Demon Spawn. Asking her to actually betray someone she once considered a friend in a way that could get him in serious trouble would be like asking you to smile,” Jason said. “It’s a painful experience for everyone involved.”

Damian scowled and turned to go back into the living room, but he hesitated when he got to the door. She was still sobbing, and Dick was still holding her and doing his best to comfort her. If he went in now, she might not want him to see her crying. He wasn’t as good at dealing with emotions as Dick was, and he might make things worse if he went in.

_I never want to be the reason she cries,_ he thought. 

With that in mind, he turned on his heel and stalked down the hall, making his way to the Batcave. Jason frowned and went after him.

~*~*~*~

By the time Jason found the section of the cave Damian had run off to, he had already pulled out his sword and started striking down invisible enemies. Jason leaned against the cave wall and just watched for a few minutes.

“You love her,” Jason finally said. Damian startled and lost his balance, landing hard on the mat.

“What are you talking about?”

“You love Marinette.”

“Jason, don’t be absurd. I just met her,” Damian huffed, standing back up and brushing himself off. “Love doesn’t happen that quickly.”

“Then you’re obsessed with her,” Jason said, “which, if I’m being honest, probably isn’t great. I don’t want you to end up treating her the same way Adrien did.”

A batarang landed in the wall next to Jason’s head, but he didn’t flinch away from it. He knew Damian’s aim was accurate enough that if it was meant to hurt him, it would have. It was a warning.

“I am nothing like him,” Damian growled.

“How do you know? When you first came to Gotham, you were the spoiled prince of the ruined League of Assassins. How do I know that kid isn’t still in there and developed an obsession with her?”

“He’s not,” Damian snapped. “That kid didn’t feel anything.”

“So then you do feel something for her.”

“Back off, Todd.”

“No. You’re acting weird, Damian! Don’t think I haven’t noticed how you’ve been acting this afternoon! You may not think very highly of me, but I was the second Robin for a reason. All afternoon, you were practically gravitating towards her. You always sat right next to her on the couch, you tried to follow her the first time she left the room upset, you call her ‘Angel’ instead of her name, and you didn’t correct Tim when he said you were dating her even though you’d only been on one date that wasn’t even officially a date. When she went downstairs after taking Adrien’s ring off, she ran directly to you and you held her and comforted her and you barely looked at Adrien despite how much he had pissed you off before she left the room. You don’t hug people, Demon Spawn. You aren’t soft. And you don’t ignore a fight after your opponent very nearly killed you. Marinette told me he threatened to use his weird destructo-powers against you and you just left him alone after that. And that’s not even mentioning your little date and going to check on her as Robin and panicking when she wasn’t in the room. So either something is very wrong with you...or you’re in love. So which is it?”

_I don’t want her to cry anymore._

“I just want her to be safe.”

“Uh-huh. And?”

_I love her laugh._

“I want her to be happy.”

“And?”

_I want to hold her._

“I want her to have people she can count on.”

“Damian, if you want to be one of those people, I recommend figuring out how you feel so you can tell her.”

“After the day she had? And finding out how Agreste was harassing her? Jason, if she doesn’t return whatever feelings I may or may not have and I tell her how I feel, she’s going to assume I’m like him.”

“Damian, I may not know the extent of her feelings, but she obviously cares about you. She revealed her identity to us. She stayed up all night making you a new jacket so you wouldn’t be cold. She ran to _you_ when she wanted comfort after taking Adrien’s ring. Not to mention, she knew it was you when you told her you were oh so great at being alone at night, and the only thing she said about it was she knew that wasn’t what you meant.”

Damian was quiet for several minutes after that. He stared down at the sword in his hands, turning it over and over as he actually thought about what Jason said. Eventually he sheathed the sword again and put it away. Jason noticed he had a determined glint in his eyes as he turned back around.

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to go check on my Angel and make sure she’s okay. Beyond that...if she can come up with plans on the spot, then so can I, right?” Damian said, walking past him and out of the Batcave.

“Whatever you say, Demon Spawn.” Jason rolled his eyes and followed Damian back up to the main house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the chapter where the Batfam realize that maybe Jason wasn't too far off when he was teasing Damian about marrying her. They also all started to realize how much they care about her too, which will make the next few chapters more fun/fluffy since I can start focusing on making those bonds/feelings stronger and including even more Damian teasing.
> 
> ...also I did way too much research into the legal side of what Adrien did while writing this...so calling it a burglary and saying he wanted to abduct her are actually the correct terms from a legal standpoint (from everything I found, anyway, and I was as thorough as I could be), and according to the stuff I found, so is them needing to contact the consulate before they can charge him with anything. I'm still doing research to decide how to proceed with Adrien's punishment, but I am working on it, lol.


	11. How Does a Moment Last Forever?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alfred reveals some more information about the Miraculouses in a way that the Wayne family should have an easier time understanding, and Marinette and Damian bond more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is mostly fluff. Like pure, tooth-rotting, cavity-inducing fluff. I had a lot of fun writing it.

Marinette had finally calmed down by the time the police left the manor. At some point in the evening, Damian had managed to take Dick’s place on the couch with her, and now she was curled up under his arm with her head resting on his shoulder. His brothers and father were sitting on the other couches in the room, but no one was talking. Jason kept looking between Marinette, who was too zoned out to notice, and Damian, who glared at him every time he noticed him staring. Tim was scrolling through something on his phone with a pissed off expression he was clearly trying to get under control, and Dick and Bruce were both lost in thought. What finally broke the silence was Alfred walking into the living room.

“Dinner will be ready soon,” Alfred announced. Bruce snapped back to reality first.

“Oh, thank you, Alfred,” Bruce said.

Marinette blinked a few times and stood up, easing herself out of Damian’s grasp.

“If it’s okay, I think I’m actually going to go upstairs and get ready for bed,” she said softly. The others frowned.

“Are you sure, Angel?”

“Yeah...I know the whole reason you invited me over tonight was for a family dinner, but—”

“Marinette, we understand. You had a very long day,” Bruce interrupted. “We can talk tomorrow. If you’re tired, you’re more than welcome to go rest.”

“Thank you,” Marinette said, walking out of the room. Alfred caught her arm gently as she walked past.

“If you want, I’ll send a dinner to your room for you,” he said. “Is there anything you’d like me to include?”

“Camembert, if you have any,” Marinette said. “If not then any cheese would be fine, but Adrien used his cataclysm earlier and I didn’t have anything to feed Plagg with. He hasn’t complained at all but I know he’s probably hungry.”

“I will see what we have,” Alfred promised. Marinette offered a small smile before she went upstairs to shower and change for bed.

~*~*~*~

The dinner table was similarly quiet. No one was willing to address the numerous elephants in the room—Jason counted at least three, but it had been a long day and he probably missed a couple—so they all just sat and ate in silence.

“I’m going to bring a tray up to Marinette now,” Alfred announced, walking in holding a tray with a plate of food, an assortment of cheeses, a few cookies, and a glass of water on it. Damian immediately put down his fork and stood up.

“I can bring it to her,” he offered.

“Very well,” Alfred said. He handed off the tray to Damian, who made his way up to Marinette’s room.

“Hundred bucks says he doesn’t come back down,” Jason wagered as soon as he was sure Damian wouldn’t be able to hear him. Tim scoffed.

“Someone’s confident.”

“Drake, if he comes back down I will eat my helmet,” Jason said. “He’s not going to come back downstairs tonight.”

“Alright, I’ll take that bet,” Tim agreed. Jason grinned and leaned over the table to shake Tim’s hand, sealing the deal.

“Why don’t you think Damian is coming back downstairs?” Dick asked, taking the bait to get Jason to focus again.

“You’re not blind enough to not have noticed, Grayson.”

“No, but I know you were talking to Damian while I was trying to calm Marinette down earlier, so you clearly know something you want to share.”

“He loves her.”

“Did Damian actually admit that?” Tim asked. “That doesn’t sound like him…”

“No, he didn’t admit it. He’s in denial. But he’s soft for her. He’s not soft for anyone,” Jason said. “He _hugs_ her. And he’s so protective of her…”

“Well, black cats are always protective of their ladybugs,” Alfred said. Everyone turned to look at him.

“What are you talking about?”

“She already had Chat Noir, Alfred, and in case you weren’t paying attention earlier...he wasn’t Damian.”

“Mr. Agreste was not a true black cat, Master Tim. I know magic theory and science don’t always mix, but please try to keep up,” Alfred said. Tim slumped back in his chair and crossed his arms. “In case you weren’t listening earlier, or just didn’t understand what she and Tikki were explaining to you, Marinette is a true ladybug. Tikki, her kwami—who is essentially a goddess of creation—chose Marinette and has been guiding her and helping her grow into herself for the last few years. Tikki’s other half, Plagg—the kwami, or god, of destruction—did not choose Mr. Agreste. He was given the Black Cat Miraculous to help and support Marinette, and he did a truly horrible job as a partner. A ladybug should be able to rely on her black cat, and she should never have a reason to be afraid of him. She was afraid of Chat Noir. He only had the ring because they couldn’t find a more suitable cat.”

“And, what, you think Damian is meant to be her black cat?” Bruce asked.

“I think Damian is a true black cat. In theory, he doesn’t have to be her black cat, or a black cat at all. She may see something in him that would make her disagree with me, or Plagg may choose not to work with him,” Alfred said. “There are a lot of factors that can go into choosing a Miraculous holder. In a typical situation, Duusu told me a Great Guardian would test potential holders after deciding whether they had true potential or not, which kwami they would work the best with, and what powers they would be able to handle. Then they would receive training instead of being thrown to the wolves to battle whatever enemy they were chosen to face.”

“And Marinette is the next Great Guardian...is she going to choose Damian to be her cat?” Dick asked.

“She could, if she and Plagg agreed to test him,” Alfred said. “All of this is just theoretical and based off of information I learned from my kwami when I was in my twenties. But it could explain why they’ve been so drawn to each other despite only just having met.”

“I’m still not following,” Tim said. “Are they soulmates? As in, the universe made them for each other and they’re destined to be together no matter what? Do they have a choice? Does someone else choose for them? You said Plagg and Tikki are two halves of a whole and that Ladybug and the Black Cat are partners, but you also said a Guardian chooses and Marinette could decide not to choose Damian, but you also said the kwami-god-fairy whatevers choose, so which is it?”

“Master Tim, you should know that matters of the heart and fate are rarely so easily understood,” Alfred reprimanded. “In the simplest of terms, true ladybugs and their true black cats are always soulmates of some kind, be it romantic, platonic, familial, or otherwise. Their souls compliment each other, and they will always share a deep bond. Marinette and Master Damian’s bond appears to be a romantic one, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they become inseparable before her trip ends and she goes back to Paris.”

“Well, then, I guess it’s a good thing we all like her,” Bruce said. Alfred smirked.

“You may get grandkids one day after all, sir.”

“Wait, I just realized something!” Jason yelled. Dick shushed him, but Jason waved him off. “Her suit changed after she met Damian, or maybe after she found out Damian was Robin. None of the pictures on the Ladyblog show the new suit, and she seemed genuinely surprised that it was different. She didn’t even know her wings would actually work to let her fly. And did you notice her mask?”

“What about her mask?”

“It looks like Damian’s Robin mask! With the dramatic spikey things on the sides! Her mask didn’t have those before. The edges of hers were rounded and smooth in all of the photos I saw,” Jason said.

“Well, Duusu once told me that the suits are a reflection of the holder’s desires,” Alfred said.

“So, she’s mirroring him?” Tim asked.

“In a way, yes,” Alfred said. Tim whined and hit his head against the table.

“Why can’t you give me a simple answer?”

“Because this is magic, Tim. You want science, and I don’t understand the magic well enough to make it more scientific for you,” Alfred said. “Perhaps Marinette will be willing to explain it better another day.”

“Fine,” Tim grumbled.

“I’m going to go spy on them!” Jason announced, getting up from the table and rushing out of the room.

“This ends badly,” Dick predicted. He shared a look with Tim and the two of them got up and ran to follow him. 

Bruce looked at Alfred exasperatedly, but Alfred just smiled and shook his head.

~*~*~*~

Damian carried the tray of food to Marinette’s room, but he hesitated outside the door. He couldn’t hear her inside, and he didn’t want to just walk in if she was in the shower. He was debating just leaving the tray out in the hall and texting her that it was there when he finally heard her voice through the door.

“Plagg, why were you acting so weird around Jason earlier? He was just trying to help,” Marinette asked.

“There’s a weird magic clinging to him,” a voice that Damian assumed was Plagg said. “I think he died and came back to life.”

“Wait, that’s what that was?” Marinette asked. “He died?”

“You felt it too, didn’t you?”

“Yeah...I think it’s part of why I thought they were akumas last night. It’s not like any magic I’ve ever felt before though…”

“It’s almost like a twisted version of my healing magic,” Tikki spoke up. “I’ve only ever encountered something like it a few times...it was clinging to Damian too.”

_Are they talking about the Lazarus pits? How can they sense that?_

“Wait, are you telling me Damian died once?” Marinette asked.

“He either died or he’s had to use whatever healing magic it is multiple times,” Tikki said.

“Are you sure you trust these people, Bug?” Plagg asked.

“Positive. Whatever magic might have affected them in the past, they’re good people. I can feel it,” Marinette said.

“Oh, you can feel it?” Plagg asked. “Then can you feel that one of them is outside the door eavesdropping, too?”

_Shit…_

He looked around the hall to see if he could come up with some kind of plan that wouldn’t make it so obvious that he actually was eavesdropping like Plagg had accused him of doing, but before he could even move, Marinette opened the door. She was wearing a bright red cotton tank top and black shorts, and fluffy ladybug print slippers on her feet. Her hair was still damp and hung loosely around her shoulders, but Damian’s attention was drawn to her arms.

_Oh, shit…_

He suddenly understood exactly how she was able to take them down so easily. The last few days, her arms had been hidden by her jacket, but in her tank top he could see exactly how strong she really was. It was very distracting…

“Damian?” Marinette called, waving her hand in front of his face. “Are you okay? You zoned out on me.”

“Earth to lover boy,” Plagg said, poking him in the cheek. Damian jumped and shook himself off. He hadn’t even noticed the kwami get that close. “You were staring. And eavesdropping. And withholding cheese. That’s three strikes.”

“Plagg, leave him alone!” Tikki called from inside the room.

“No! He got three strikes in as many minutes! I don’t know if he’s worthy of dating Marinette.”

“Plagg!” Marinette exclaimed, covering her face with her hands to hide her blush.

“Well, you are a tiny cat fairy, so I think I could date my Angel even without your permission,” Damian said. “Should she honor me by saying yes, of course.”

“You need to understand something before we go any further,” Plagg said, floating right in front of Damian’s face. “I may look like a small cat, but I am an embodiment of pure destruction. I am the kwami of destruction. Now, Marinette is one of the best bugs Tikki has had in a long time. My last holder treated her terribly. Either you treat her right, or you’re going to find out what happened to the dinosaurs. Got it?”

“Got it,” Damian said, refusing to back down. “I’m never going to hurt her.”

“Good,” Plagg said. He grabbed a piece of cheese off the tray and disappeared into the room. Damian watched him fly off, then turned back to see Marinette looking up at him with the most surprised, wide-eyed expression he’d ever seen.

“What?”

“Do you mean it?” she asked, her voice barely able to be heard over his own heartbeat.

“I, um, that wasn’t how I wanted to do this,” Damian said awkwardly, “but yes. I do mean it.”

Marinette opened her mouth to say something, but huffed out a little laugh and covered her face again as her blush deepened. Damian held up the tray of food with an awkward smile, and Marinette laughed again and stepped aside to let him in. He set the tray down on her dresser and she grabbed her hairbrush from her suitcase.

“You didn’t want to unpack?”

“I wasn’t really sure if I should settle…”

Damian frowned and sat down on the edge of her bed. He reached out and took her hands, then gently pulled her to sit down next to him. He rested his hand over the one holding the hairbrush.

“May I?”

Marinette nodded and let him take the hairbrush from her. He adjusted how they were sitting on the bed so she was practically in his lap and started brushing her hair with smooth, careful strokes. She slowly relaxed against him and started humming a song Damian didn’t recognize.

“Angel, what are you humming?”

“Oh, it’s from Beauty and the Beast.”

“It sounds pretty. Are there words?”

“Yeah. I only know the verse from the short version though.”

“Would you sing it for me?”

“Oh, um, sure,” Marinette said. She cleared her throat nervously and started singing the [verse.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZkNgfvBdY8)

“How does a moment last forever?  
How can a story never die?  
It is love we must hold onto;  
Never easy, but we try...  
Sometimes our happiness is captured;  
Somehow, a time and place stand still;  
Love lives on inside our hearts and always will...”

“Wow,” was all Damian could say as she finished. He set the brush down on the bed for a moment and tapped her shoulder so she would turn to look at him. She blushed when she realized just how close they were sitting. “That was beautiful, Angel.”

“Thank you,” Marinette whispered. Damian smiled softly and started leaning in, but Marinette turned her head away at the last second. “Jason is at the window…”

“He’s what?” Damian barely kept himself from growling. He looked over at the window but couldn’t see anything out of it. “How do you know?”

“I can feel it. Call it my Guardian instincts,” Marinette said. She untangled herself from his arms and walked over to the window, then pushed it open and leaned out of it just far enough to look up and see the face of the boy hanging from the roof. “Hi, Jason.”

“Marinette! What a crazy coincidence...is this your window? I swear, I had no idea…” Jason said, laughing awkwardly. Marinette smiled far too sweetly for it to be comforting.

“Why are you spying on me?”

“Spying? On you? Me? What? No, I would never!”

“Uh-huh...where are Dick and Tim?”

“Why would I know that? I’m not my brothers’ keeper. They take care of themselves,” Jason said. Marinette hummed, still smiling.

“Good night, Jason,” she said, shutting the window again and closing the curtains. Damian held out his hand to her, but she raised one finger to signal him to wait and went to the door. She leaned into the hallway and called, “Good night, boys!”

She waited two seconds to listen for a response. When she heard nothing, she rolled her eyes and went back to the bed. Damian pulled her back onto his lap.

“I’m so sorry about them. They don’t understand boundaries, apparently.”

“Dami, it’s okay. I promise.”

“How did you know he was there? I couldn’t see him through the glass.”

“I know you were eavesdropping earlier,” Marinette started. Damian flushed and interrupted her.

“I really am sorry. I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, I just wasn’t sure how to interrupt.”

“It’s okay. It’s not like I was sharing any deep dark secrets. Anyway, after Master Fu had been training me for a while, we decided that if I could learn to sense magic and energies around me, it might help us find Hawkmoth and Mayura. At the very least, it’s helped me know when someone is about to be akumatized,” Marinette explained. “I’m not great at it yet, because it isn’t something that comes naturally to me, but Master Fu said it didn’t come naturally to him either. He learned to do it when he became a healer, so that’s how he’s been training me to do it too. But there’s a weird magic coming off of you and Jason, and it feels like the cure I use to undo the damage caused by a Miraculous but, perverted somehow? Like someone abused its power and twisted the energy signature from it.”

“There are these pools...we call them Lazarus pits. They’re filled with this weird, green water that can heal injuries and restore youth, and even revive someone who is dead or dying. If you’re healthy and step into one, though, it can kill you, and it drives the people who use it temporarily insane. My grandfather on my mother’s side used them to stay alive for hundreds of years, and he had...other plans for them, but he died before he could actually follow through. Jason and I both died a few years ago, and the Lazarus pits are what brought us back.”

“You almost died again tonight, Damian,” Marinette whispered, snuggling into him. “I was so scared...I don’t want that to happen. I don’t want to lose you…”

“You won’t, Angel, I swear,” Damian promised, holding her tighter. He pressed a kiss into her hair. “I’m not going anywhere. I’ll always be here to protect you.”

“I believe you. You’re a good person, Damian. I can feel it.”

“Like how you can sense magic?”

“No. This is different. This I feel in my jellies.”

“In your what?”

“My jellies,” Marinette said, tilting her head back to smile brightly at him.

“Angel, that’s not a real thing.”

“How do you know? I’m magic. Maybe I have jellies that you don’t have.”

Damian stared at her for a moment, with her sparkling eyes and barely held together attempt at a serious expression, and burst out laughing. Marinette’s facade shattered and she started laughing with him. It took several minutes and several more failed attempts to stop laughing before Damian could actually breathe properly again. His cheeks were starting to hurt from smiling so much, but it was a good pain.

“I don’t think I’ve heard you laugh before,” she marvelled.

“I don’t think I’ve ever laughed like that before,” he admitted. “I don’t laugh much…or ever, really.”

“I like your laugh. Thank you for letting me hear it.”

Damian’s heart clenched at that, and he felt like his brain was short-circuiting. She was smiling up at him with pure, unrestrained joy, and she fit perfectly in his arms, and she actually made him laugh. Somehow, and he would never understand how, those things came together to cause his brain to scream one thought at him over and over again.

_I love her._

He opened his mouth to tell her, but right as he gathered up the courage to say it, Marinette yawned and he hesitated. For as happy as she was, he still knew she’d had a long and emotional day and probably didn’t need anything else to process. Plus, his brothers were probably still lurking around somewhere and he wasn’t ready to admit Jason was right yet.

“Alright, Miss Jellies, you need to get some sleep,” Damian said instead. “You didn’t sleep last night and you had a long day today.”

“Will you stay? At least for a little bit?”

“Of course, Angel,” Damian said, maintaining his composure despite the strange fuzzy feeling that was making it hard to focus. “I told you, I wasn’t going anywhere.”

~*~*~*~

**Red Dead Redemption: Welp, y’all are on your own**

**Red Dead Redemption: Idk how but she caught me**

**Red Dead Redemption: Demon Spawn didn’t even realize I was there, but she knew**

**Timber: Way to ruin it, dumbass**

**Red Dead Redemption: Why is this my fault????**

**Timber: It was your idea!**

**Red Dead Redemption: I didn’t know she’d catch me!**

**Boy Wonder: She almost caught us too**

**Timber: “Almost”**

**Boy Wonder: She didn’t see us! It doesn’t count**

**Timber: She almost saw us**

**Boy Wonder: We have plausible WAIT**

**Red Dead Redemption: ???**

**Boy Wonder: Damian’s laughing**

**Red Dead Redemption: What**

**Red Dead Redemption: Damian doesn’t know how to laugh**

**Timber: No, I hear it too**

**Timber: She made him laugh**

**Red Dead Redemption: How???????**

**Red Dead Redemption: We’ve known him for years and he never laughs. Snicker maybe, but he doesn’t laugh**

**Boy Wonder: She’s magic. That’s the only explanation. He’s genuinely laughing**

**Timber: WITCHCRAFT**

**Red Dead Redemption: Timmy you owe me $100**

**Timber: The night isn’t technically over!**

**Red Dead Redemption: Do you really think he’ll leave her alone? She made him *laugh* Tim. He’s wrapped around her little finger. You lose the bet**

**Timber: Dammit**

~*~*~*~

Adrien was sitting in a holding cell at the Gotham City precinct, fuming over the events of the day.

First, Marinette had overslept and missed the bus. Again.

Then she showed up to the picnic with that guy from the Wayne Enterprises tour, who turned out to be a Wayne? And then she left with him despite barely knowing him! Not to mention, she completely brushed off his concerns about the guy and decided to lecture him instead!

He had to go get her back. When she left, the class was in chaos. Madame Bustier was furious. Lila was crying at everyone yelling at her, and had even tried to turn them against him! She told them he had known she was lying the entire time and that he told her it was okay! That he said the lies weren’t actually hurting anyone, so it didn’t matter if she kept lying or not because no one would get upset! Marinette was the only person he knew that could have calmed the class down, and she’d abandoned them to go off with the Wayne family!

And then! When he showed up to get her back, they tried to fight him off! She even called Ladybug to come to Gotham from Paris to take his ring away! She turned his Lady against him, and she got him arrested, and—

“Hey, kid,” one of the officers said, coming up to the bars of the holding cell. “We’re still talking to the consulate about what to do with you, but Commissioner Gordon said to give you your one phonecall. You got anyone you can call?”

Adrien thought about it for a minute. Madame Bustier probably wouldn’t be able to do much, not without calling his father, anyway, and Adrien knew he needed to be the one to tell his father what happened. This was too important.

“Yeah, my family back home,” Adrien said. The officer nodded and unlocked the cell, then brought him over to the phone. Adrien dialed Nathalie’s number and tapped his fingers against his leg while he waited for her to pick up.

“Hello?”

“Nathalie, it’s me.”

“Adrien? What happened?”

“I got arrested. Is Father available?”

“If he’s not, he will be for this. One second.”

Adrien nodded to himself and waited while Nathalie went to find his father. He was just about to assume his father was too busy when he answered the phone.

“Adrien? Nathalie said you were arrested,” Gabriel Agreste said coldly. “Care to explain what happened?”

“The class trip is a nightmare. Marinette kept separating from the group, and Bruce Wayne yelled at Madame Bustier and exposed Lila as a liar and took Marinette away, and when I went to get her back they called the police and had me arrested.”

“How did you go to get her back?” Gabriel asked slowly, his voice deathly calm. “Tell me you didn’t do what I think you did.”

“I lost the ring,” Adrien admitted after a minute. “Marinette called my Lady, and she took the ring away. I didn’t think that would happen, I’m sorry.”

There was silence on the other end, followed by the sound of something shattering. The phone went silent, and Adrien worried they had hung up on him, but Nathalie came back on the line before he could hang up as well.

“I’m booking flights to Gotham now, Adrien. We’ll deal with this once we land.”

“Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jason's chat name in this was inspired by one of my best friends, Wolfykit, so you have her to thank for that XD
> 
> So...that thing I was kinda being vague about in some of my replies to comments? Where I said y'all would hate Adrien even more? That end scene explains why I said that. I don't know how detailed I'll get in this fic (it'll probably have to go in a separate backstory one-shot because I don't think it'll fit otherwise), but basically:
> 
> -Plagg doesn't know about Gabriel. Every time Adrien went to discuss Hawkmoth stuff with Gabriel, he renounced Plagg and then wouldn't talk to him about it after  
> -This is why Adrien stopped going to akuma fights  
> -He didn't blatantly turn against Ladybug because everyone knows he can't beat her in a fight and he's still obsessed with her, so he started pushing them dating even more  
> -He thinks that if they date, he can catch her off guard and steal her earrings, and then his father can wish for his mother to be healthy and he can wish for LB to return his feelings  
> -His obsession with Marinette, as I'm sure y'all have figured out by now, is because in his eyes, she kept trying to rock the boat with the class even after he told her to just go with it, and it pissed him off that she wouldn't just listen  
> -Basically he went off the deep end BIG TIME in this and grew into a very horrible person 
> 
> I boiled that down to its bare essentials because there's other delusions and stuff going on that are convincing Adrien that this stuff isn't _that_ bad, mostly from no one calling him out on his manipulative tendencies and letting him believe he's in the right and other people indirectly proving him "right" over and over again, but this is the backdrop for his character in the rest of my take on this AU so...
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! ~~I did say it was mostly fluff...~~
> 
> EDIT: I accidentally wrote that Adrien _can_ beat her in a fight...I meant **can't** , my bad.


	12. Just Too Weird

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damian realizes a few things, the class deal with the fallout from discovering Lila is a liar and learn about what happened at Wayne Manor, and Jason doesn't know how to deal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's so much fluff. Some plot drama too, obviously, but everything outside of the plot drama is fluff. XD

It didn’t take long for Marinette to fall asleep. Damian, on the other hand, had given up on trying to sleep for a while. His mind kept replaying all the events of the last few days, from helping Marinette back to her hotel as Robin to realizing he loved her. He held her closer, his heart doing flips as she snuggled into him. She looked so delicate in his arms, as if he could shatter her with one wrong touch.

“I don’t get scared, Angel, but you terrify me,” Damian whispered. He didn’t want to wake her, but he needed to get the words out of his head somehow. “You scare me because I know you fight criminals who fight by rules I don’t understand. You scare me because you could be hurt so easily, even though I know you’re stronger than anyone I’ve ever met. You scare me because I just met you and I already love you, and I’ve never been in love before.”

Marinette shifted a little in her sleep and Damian froze. He didn’t know if she was a light sleeper or not, and he wasn’t quite ready to tell her all of this. He wasn’t ready for her to hear it. What if she thought he was like Chat Noir? She said she knew he was a good person, but she thought Chat Noir was a good person once too and he didn’t want her to ever think he was like that. He held his breath until she settled again and he was absolutely positive she was still asleep.

“You’ve turned my world upside-down, and I don’t want to go back to a life that doesn’t have you in it,” he admitted. “I don’t want to think about you being taken away again. When Agreste broke in today...I know you were scared for me, but I was terrified for you. I couldn’t protect you the way I wanted to, and the way he talked to you and about you...I couldn’t let him take you. I didn’t know what to do though, so I just acted without knowing all of the details and I made you worry even more. And now he’s been arrested, so he can’t hurt you anymore, but what about others? Gotham has a lot of villains and criminals, and I’m sure Paris does too...I just want to know you’re safe, and it terrifies me that I can’t.”

He took a shaky breath, and suddenly a tissue was floating in front of his face. Damian startled. At first he thought someone had snuck into the room while he was focused on Marinette, but then he remembered the kwamis and relaxed again. He saw blue eyes smiling at him sympathetically and realized it was Tikki. He frowned, more out of embarrassment at being heard than genuine irritation, and took the tissue from her to wipe his eyes.

_When did I start crying?_

“I won’t tell her,” Tikki promised. “Plagg won’t either. But you should. Marinette has always had a lot of love to give, but most of the people around her just take and give nothing in return. I think you’re good for her.”

“Thank you,” Damian said sincerely. Tikki smiled again and flew back to wherever it was she and Plagg were hiding.

Damian took another minute to compose himself before kissing the top of Marinette’s head and falling asleep with her.

~*~*~*~

Things between the class were tense after Marinette left. Nino spent the afternoon avoiding the tension between Alya, Adrien, and Lila by hanging out with Rose, Juleka, and Ivan instead, who were forgiving enough to understand that he didn’t want to talk about what happened in the park. Instead, they kept their conversations focused on their music. They updated him on how Kitty Section had been doing and he showed them a few tracks he had been playing around with for an upcoming gig. They gave each other a few pointers on things that could improve both of their sets, and it was a nice break from the drama extravengence he had gotten used to hearing from Alya and Lila. He loved his girlfriend, for all her faults, and they usually had a great time when it was just the two of them, but Lila liked to gossip and sometimes that took away from their time together. Nino was also starting to realize that if Lila had lied about dating Bruce Wayne’s son, a lot of the gossip she was sharing with him and Alya were most likely lies, and they hadn’t been smart enough to ask around about it. They had even gone as far as to tell Marinette off for some of it, and when she didn’t fight back they assumed Lila had been telling the truth.

_But if Lila was actually telling the truth for once and Adrien **had** told Marinette to stop trying to expose her? It was no wonder she stopped fighting back…_

Nino wasn’t sure if he wanted to know the truth about whether or not Adrien had known the whole time. He wasn’t as vocal about defending the person he considered his best friend and Alya had been since Lila was called out, but he understood why she reacted that way. Lila had manipulated her more than anyone else. She had turned Alya against someone who could have been a friend for life. She had spun extravagant tales about the places she had visited and the celebrities she had met. She’d gone on record for the Ladyblog saying she knew Ladybug, and Nino knew she had been slowly warping Alya’s perception of Ladybug, especially after Ladybug told her she couldn’t be Rena Rouge anymore. If Lila was lying about everything, then she had ruined almost everything that was important to Alya under the guise of “helping” her “best friend,” and Nino knew that would be a hard thing for her to come to terms with. As for Nino…

Nino trusted Adrien. He had no reason not to. Adrien was a good person who Nino thought tried to stand up for people. If Ladybug had ever asked for his thoughts on choosing a new hero, Nino would have recommended Adrien in a heartbeat. He thought Adrien had even seen the best in Marinette, but they had done nothing but fight since arriving in Gotham so Nino thought Adrien saw Marinette for the bully Lila had painted her to be. Instead, Lila was claiming that his best friend had been allowing her to lie for years and knew she was lying the whole time and just never said anything. 

If Lila really did lie about everything, then Adrien was still the person Nino thought he was, but if she chose that moment to tell the truth...Nino decided he’d just ask Adrien about it in the hotel room that night. Maybe when it was just the two of them and they didn’t have an audience, Nino could find out what really happened without anyone judging or making accusations. He was sure Adrien would clear things up. Then they could explain everything to the others and move on.

Since everyone was in such a terrible mood, Madame Bustier decided to cancel the group dinner that evening and give them free time instead. Her only rules were that they got back to the hotel before dark and that no one left the hotel alone and that at least one person in each group was over eighteen, which was easy enough since most of the class already was eighteen. There were a couple of cafes and fast food places nearby, so the class all grouped off to decide what to eat. Nino made his way over to Alya, who was standing a little ways away from everyone else.

“Do you want to go get dinner together? We could go sit in a cafe and talk things out,” Nino suggested. “Or talk about nothing, if you’d prefer. I just thought it might be a nice way to end a shitty day?”

“Thanks, Nino, but I really think I need to be alone right now,” Alya said softly, not quite meeting his eyes. “Why don’t you go grab dinner with Ivan and Rose and Juleka? You seemed like you were having a nice time with them earlier.”

“Babe…”

“I’m really not mad, Nino. I get it. I wasn’t my best self at the park today,” Alya said. She huffed out a humorless laugh. “I haven’t been my best self for a while now, I don’t think...not since I became friends with Lila. I just need some space.”

“Aren’t you rooming with Lila, though? What are you going to do? Just ignore her?”

“I actually asked Madame Bustier if I could move into Marinette’s room since she isn’t on the trip anymore. She said I could, but that if Marinette decided to come back I had to go back to rooming with Lila. I got the key already, and I’m going to move my stuff in there right now.”

“You want help?”

“Nino, you have to eat. Go join one of the groups. We can talk later, I promise.”

“Okay. But I’m absolutely sending you a picture of the menu so you can tell me what to bring back for you,” Nino said, making Alya finally smile. Nino kissed her lightly before going off to join Ivan’s group again. He noticed Adrien stalking past and was about to call out for him to join them, but Adrien was in the elevator with the doors closing before he could.

_Well, that was weird...I guess I’ll just see him when I get back from dinner, then._

Their dinner plans were short-lived. They decided to take their food back to the hotel to eat. Mylene had called Rose in tears after she’d had some time to process all of the lies Lila had told her, including the ones that ultimately convinced her to break up with Ivan the previous year, and she was having a hard time dealing with it. Rose promised she and Juleka would go to help her as soon as possible, and despite how hurt Ivan still felt over their breakup, he and Nino both refused to let them walk back to the hotel alone. They knew any lingering hard feelings weren’t worth risking someone getting abducted.

Once back at the hotel, Rose and Juleka made their way up to Mylene and Alix’s room. Ivan and Nino decided to hang out in the lobby for a while and eat there before parting ways. Nino went to his and Adrien’s room to change and hopefully talk to him, but Adrien wasn’t there. Nino shrugged and decided he must have caught up to one of the other groups for dinner. After changing, Nino made his way up to Alya’s room. He knocked twice and she opened the door. The first thing he noticed was that her eyes were puffy from crying.

“Oh, babe,” Nino whispered. He stepped in and put the food he brought her on the desk, then turned and pulled her in for a hug.

“I ruined everything, Nino,” she said, her voice cracking. “I hurt Marinette. I put lies on my blog. I believed _her_ , and I don’t know what to do.”

“Hey, it’ll be okay. You weren’t even fifteen when you met Lila, remember? You didn’t realize you couldn’t trust her. And Lila was manipulating you, Al. She manipulated all of us. It isn’t your fault.”

“Nino, she’s part of the reason I’m not Rena Rouge anymore. Ladybug said it was because I stopped acting like a hero in my civilian life, and that was after I started giving out to Marinette because Lila said she was bullying her...my power was illusions and I call myself a journalist and I never even thought she could be lying! It would have been so easy to find the truth and I trusted her—”

“Yes, you trusted her. You made a mistake. We’re teenagers, Alya, we’re supposed to make mistakes. It’s not your fault she took advantage of you. It’s not your fault she manipulated you. But you can still fix things, okay? You can still get away from her and heal. Your blog isn’t the be-all, end-all of your journalism career.”

“What about Marinette? I said horrible things to her…how can I make that right?”

“I don’t know if we can. She might decide we hurt her too badly and tell us we burned that bridge a long time ago. But I think we still need to try. We’ll give her space for now since she decided she doesn’t want to be around us, and I don’t blame her for that with how terribly we were acting, but maybe when we all get back to Paris, we can apologize and start trying to make it up to her. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Suddenly, both of their phones dinged as someone started messaging them. They pulled out their phones and saw Chloe had texted their class group chat.

**Chloe: Turn on the news right now**

**Kim: What? Why?**

**Chloe: JUST DO IT**

**Chloe: It’s important**

**Chloe: NOW**

**Alix: Jeeze, okay, calm down**

Nino and Alya looked at each other with dread settling in their hearts before Nino grabbed the remote. As he fumbled to find the right button, a million thoughts ran through his head.

_Did something happen back home? Was someone grabbed by one of Gotham’s rogues? Was the guy that picked up Marinette today not actually Bruce Wayne? Was she hurt? Please tell me they didn’t find her body..._

“...police arrived at Wayne Manor tonight, responding to reports of a break-in. The suspect is Parisian model Adrien Agreste, who seemingly broke in in an attempt to abduct a classmate of his who was staying with the Wayne family. The classmate in question was unavailable to comment, but police assured that though the model threatened violence, no one was injured in the break-in…”

Nino muted the news report and looked at Alya, whose horrified expression matched exactly what he was feeling. The group chat was blowing up as more and more of the class tuned into the broadcast.

“What the fuck did Adrien just do?”

~*~*~*~

“Ugh, Tikki, how do we shut off your girl’s phone? It’s on silent but it has not stopped vibrating all night and it’s driving me insane,” Plagg complained.

“Her class is worried. They must have heard what happened with Adrien,” Tikki said.

“It’s not like they were worried before,” Plagg grumbled. “Not like lover boy in there is.”

“His name is Damian, Plagg. He genuinely cares about her.”

“Tikki, they just met. When Adrien first met Ladybug, he genuinely cared about her too. Look where that got us!”

“You know as well as I do that Damian isn’t like Adrien, Plagg. I know you can feel it. Damian would actually be a good match for you, and for Marinette.”

“And what if we’re wrong? What if we give him the ring and he puts her in danger? You heard what he said, he jumped in without knowing all the facts and nearly got someone killed. How many times did Adrien jump into a battle without listening to Ladybug and get possessed, or get himself killed, or almost get Ladybug killed? _He_ almost killed her a few times while being controlled, and then he just abandoned her! We’re not going to rush into giving her a new partner again.”

“Then test him. I know your lecture about him not being worthy of dating Marinette was to see how he’d react to a challenge. You wanted to see if he’d fold or stand up for what he wanted. You’ve only ever done that a handful of times, and only ever for people you ultimately chose to work with.”

“And if he fails?”

“Then he fails. But last night you were saying he could be an option. He adores Marinette, Plagg, you heard his speech tonight. He loves her, and Marinette loves him, I can tell,” Tikki insisted. “They would be a good match. He wants to protect her and it sounds like he would do anything to keep her safe. His first instinct at every turn tonight has been to comfort her. They’ve been drawn to each other despite only meeting three nights ago. If you asked her, I’d bet she’d tell you her instincts have been screaming at her to give him a chance. So why won’t you now?”

“I refuse to give someone control over the power of destruction until we’re 100% sure they can handle it. She’s been through too much to have another reckless or passive or immature partner who thinks destroying things is a game or that he can use his power to intimidate people into doing what he wants. So we can test him, and I’ll let Marinette practice evaluating him as a permanent holder. But I’m not letting him touch the ring unless he proves he can handle the responsibility.”

“I’m only asking for you to give him a chance.” Tikki flew over to hug him tightly. Plagg grumbled but hugged her back nonetheless. “Also, even you can’t deny how cute they are together, Stinky Sock.”

“Fine, Sugar Cube. I think they’re cute,” Plagg said, pretending to gag on the words and making Tikki laugh at his expression.

_They really are cute. And lover boy really does have potential, but I’ll be damned if I’m responsible for anyone else hurting Tikki’s bug._

~*~*~*~

Damian woke up before Marinette did the next morning, and though he hated to leave her, he wanted to go shower and change before she got up. He carefully tried to disentangle them. He was almost free when Marinette whined and grabbed his shirt.

“Dami?” she mumbled, still half asleep.

“Good morning, Angel,” he said softly. Marinette sat up and rubbed her eyes.

“What time is it?”

“It’s early, love. I was just getting up to go shower. You can go back to sleep.”

Marinette nodded and laid back down, pulling the blanket up over her head. Damian smiled adoringly and left the room.

“Spending the night in her room, Demon Spawn? How scandalous. I thought you were more proper than that,” Jason said. Damian scowled and turned to where his brother was leaning against the wall.

“And why were you staking out her room anyway?”

“Relax, I only came here when I realized you weren’t in your room. I had a question for you.”

“What?”

“When are you going to admit I was right? You keep hugging her, you brushed her hair, she made you laugh, you even slept with her—”

“Nothing untoward happened, Todd. She asked me to stay, so I did. We fell asleep. End of story.”

“Whatever you say, Romeo. It doesn’t change the fact that you spent the night. Maybe you aren’t as good at being alone at night as you thought.”

Damian growled, and Jason held up his hands in mock surrender.

“Calm down. I’m just teasing,” Jason said. “Look, all signs point to you being head-over-heels in love with her. We all get it. Sort of. We’re actually pretty confused if I’m being honest, but we get why you like her. She’s badass and sweet and she’s really clever. But you need to actually tell her how you feel before you lose her, Damian. I’m sure you’re not the only guy to see those things in her, and if you don’t tell her before she goes back to Paris...”

Damian froze, his fears from the night before rushing back uninvited. Logically, he knew he shouldn’t be so afraid of her, and he shouldn’t feel like he’s been dunked in a vat of ice water at the thought of not being with her when he only just met her, and yet. And yet here he was, fully aware that he would do anything for her, and apparently his whole family could see it too. He saw Jason’s knowing expression and scowled, brushing past him to go to his bedroom.

~*~*~*~

“You look really cute today, Marinette!” Tikki praised. 

Marinette was wearing a short, ladybug red romper with black flowers embroidered on it. It was sleeveless, with a high neckline and black fabric covered buttons down the back. Her hair was tied up in a ballerina bun on top of her head, and she wore black converse on her feet.

“Thanks, Tikki! I don’t wear this design enough, but I felt like channeling Ladybug today.”

“And it has nothing to do with how lover boy looked at you in your red pajamas last night?” Plagg asked. Marinette narrowed her eyes and pulled out the ring she was wearing on a silver chain around her neck.

“I will put you back in the ring if you can’t behave, Plagg,” Marinette threatened.

“Relax, Bug. You can’t put me back in the ring yet.”

“And why not?”

“Because I want to test your little boyfriend. I think he’d make a good Black Cat, and he already knows about the Miraculous so you can be more straightforward about testing him than Fu was with you.”

“Oh,” Marinette said, fidgeting with the ring. “You really think he could wear the ring? You’d work with him?”

“If he proved he could handle it, then yes,” Plagg said. “Don’t try to tell me you haven’t thought about him as the Cat already, Bug. You’re not a good enough liar.”

“I am not giving you cheese this morning,” Marinette huffed, blushing. Plagg snickered at her reaction.

“Plagg! Stop teasing her!” Tikki scolded, but that only made Plagg laugh more.

Marinette rolled her eyes, then tilted her head to the side. She could sense Damian walking up to her bedroom door. She skipped over with a huge smile and opened it right as he went to knock.

“Oh,” Damian said, dropping his hand in surprise. “I forgot you would know I was here.”

“It’s a useful trick,” Marinette shrugged. “How’d you sleep?”

“Wonderfully, Angel. Did you sleep well? You look—” Damian meant to say _rested_ , but he got distracted by her outfit and what came out instead was “—beautiful.”

“Dami!” Marinette whined and blushed as red as her romper, making Damian smile. Somewhere inside the room, he heard Plagg start cackling. Marinette turned and glared daggers towards the sound. “Plagg, I will renounce you!”

“Sure, Bug. Whatever you say,” Plagg said. Marinette huffed indignantly and turned back to Damian.

“Do you want to go get breakfast? You didn’t eat dinner last night,” Damian said, failing to hide his amused smile.

“Breakfast sounds good. If Plagg and Tikki promise to behave, they can come too,” Marinette said. The kwamis were in the door and landing on her shoulder seconds later.

Damian held out his arm to her and Marinette took it, bumping her shoulder against him playfully. He led the way down to the kitchen to figure out breakfast while avoiding his brothers a little longer. Alfred was the only one in the kitchen, just like Damian had expected.

“Good morning, Marinette; Master Damian. You two seem to be in a good mood today,” Alfred observed. He nodded to the kwamis on Marinette’s shoulder. “I take it this is Plagg? Duusu told me about you.”

“You were one of Duusu’s Chosens?” Plagg asked. “We haven’t heard from her in years…”

“It was a long time ago. But she told me enough about the Miraculous that I was able to recognize Marinette as a Ladybug when Master Damian told me what was happening,” Alfred said. “But we can talk more about that later. Would you like something to eat? I know Tikki likes cookies and Plagg likes cheese, but what would you two like?”

“I’ll just have some toast. I don’t usually eat much for breakfast anyway,” Marinette said. “But Plagg was picking on me today, so he’s not allowed any Camembert this morning.”

“Bug!”

“I told you I wasn’t giving you cheese! You were mean to me today,” Marinette sassed. “No Camembert.”

“You are truly the cruellest Ladybug,” Plagg said dramatically. “I have done nothing to deserve this punishment except for speaking the truth. I thought you were a paragon of truth and the scourge of liars!”

“Are you done?” Marinette deadpanned. Plagg pretended to faint into her hands, then sat up like nothing happened.

“Yeah, I’m done,” he said. “I’m not happy, but I’m done.”

“You’re insufferable sometimes,” Marinette sighed, scratching behind his ears affectionately.

“What can I say? I’m the chaos to Tikki’s calm,” Plagg said. Alfred set out a plate of cheese and cookies next to a plate of toast, and he flew over to the cheese immediately. “At least someone here appreciates me.”

Marinette shot the cat kwami an exasperated look, and Damian had to stifle a snicker. Marinette turned her attention to him.

“Damian Wayne, are you laughing at me?”

“Never, Angel,” he said, his grin betraying him. Marinette pouted, and he had to fight the urge to kiss it away. He slid the plate of toast her direction, then held out the jam jar to her. “Some jelly for Miss Jellies?”

Marinette burst out laughing, much to Damian’s delight. He watched her with the most adoring smile Alfred had ever seen, and that smile didn’t even fade when Jason walked into the doorway behind Marinette.

“Hi, Jason!” Marinette said between giggles before Jason could even say anything. His jaw dropped.

“How did you know it was me?”

“I’m magic,” Marinette said. She was still giggling, but she was calming down now that there was someone else in the room.

“She could feel it in her jellies,” Damian teased, entirely focused on her.

“In her what?”

“Damian, no! The jellies are different, remember?”

“Ah, of course. How could I forget?”

They stared at each other for a second before they both started laughing again. Jason’s jaw was on the floor at this point. He looked between his brother—who never laughed—to the girl who must have thrown the Wayne household into an alternate dimension with a different Damian, then to the two small gods eating cheese and cookies on the counter and took a deep breath.

“I’m just gonna go,” Jason said, backing out of the kitchen slowly.

“Bye, Jason!” Marinette called.

_Maybe I shouldn’t have gotten out of bed this morning_ , Jason thought as he walked back to the dining room, the two teens’ laughter echoing behind him. _I knew I was right, but that was just too weird._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...I don't want to take away from the fluff in this chapter but since I have a feeling a lot of comments are going to be about the class, I want to clear some stuff up now:
> 
> -I know everyone was mad at Alya for defending Lila, but Marinette wasn't Lila's only victim and the classmates are all dealing with that differently (I hope I didn't tell anyone Alya wasn't getting redeemed at all...if so I kinda changed my mind)  
> -No, the class dynamic isn't going to go back to how it was in Seasons 1 and 2. Yes, they'll try to make up for what they did, but things won't go back to the way they were before Lila started interfering.  
> -Redemption for the class (minus Lila and Adrien...those two are beyond redeeming) probably won't come in this fic at all, but the foundation for it will start here and then extend into anything else I write for this AU after this fic ends
> 
> Anyway...I hope y'all liked this chapter as much as I did. I'm so excited to see y'all's reactions! XD


	13. Soulmates, Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The family gets to know Marinette a little better, and Luka and Kagami finally find out about Marinette's adventures.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took forever to write. I was staring at it for days before any of the sections actually clicked into place. There's some cute stuff in it, though, so I'm pretty proud of it overall.
> 
> Enjoy!

Jason walked into the dining room in shock. His brothers took one look at his expression and started snickering.

“Trying to catch flies there, Jason?” Dick asked. Jason clamped his mouth shut and frowned.

“You guys weren’t kidding...Demon Spawn is laughing,” he said. “Like, he has an inside joke with her already. It’s only been two days. What kind of Disney movie did she warp us into?”

“I thought you were so confident he was in love with her you would eat your helmet if you were wrong?” Tim asked smugly. “Why are you still surprised?”

“It’s one thing to know, Tim. It’s another thing to actually hear him laugh after a weird conversation about jelly,” Jason said. “Speaking of that bet, where’s my $100?”

Tim made a face and pulled out his wallet, muttering something about how it was a totally unfair bet as he slid the $100 across the table. Jason picked it up and pocketed it with a satisfied expression.

“It’s always fun to win a bet. Now, what kind of spell did she put on him?”

“Who do I hear laughing?” Bruce asked, walking into the dining room. “I figure it’s Marinette and...wait, you’re all here.”

“Not all of us,” Dick said pointedly.

“That’s not Damian. That can’t be Damian,” Bruce said. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope. It’s Damian,” Jason said. “They’re laughing about jelly.”

“What?” Bruce asked, sitting down heavily. “This is a good thing, right? Like it’s weird, but it’s a good weird, isn’t it?”

“I think so,” Dick said. “She’s super sweet, and if they make each other happy, I think it’s good.”

“Will they be able to handle each other long-term though? They’ve both been through hell,” Tim pointed out. “They’re breaking down walls now, but that’s only good if they can handle what those walls were holding back. Damian has a lot of walls.”

“But they’re soulmates! Aren’t soulmates supposed to help with all of that? Make things better?”

“Jason, we don’t know for sure if they are soulmates. That conclusion was reached based on a lot of assumptions,” Bruce reminded him. “Out of all the girls that could be Damian’s soulmate, she is one that I approve of wholeheartedly. But Tim is right, they’ve been through a lot. They’re both strong kids, but you three saw the fallout of some of the stuff she’s been through last night, and that’s just the stuff Ladybug has been through. We still don’t know what happened to make Marinette’s class dislike her so much.”

“Yeah, I don’t know how anyone could meet her and not like her,” Dick said. “She’s like a walking ray of sunshine.”

“I guess we’ll have to find out,” Bruce said, standing up again. “But first, I think I’d like to speak with her.”

“You’re going to have to pry Damian from her,” Jason snickered. Bruce shook his head and left the room.

Marinette was still giggling when Bruce walked into the kitchen. Damian had stopped laughing, but he hadn’t stopped smiling at her. He was also trying to convince her to eat a piece of toast with butter and jam on it, which for some reason just kept making her laugh more.

“Good morning,” Bruce said. Damian and Marinette both startled, and Damian dropped the piece of toast back onto the plate as if it had burned him.

“Good morning, Father.”

“Good morning, sir.”

“I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” Bruce asked, thoroughly amused at the way they both blushed.

“No, sir,” Marinette said. “We were just joking around.”

“I see,” Bruce said. “Damian, I’d like to speak to Marinette alone for a minute. Would you please wait in the dining room with your brothers? We’ll join you shortly.”

Damian looked at Marinette who nodded subtly before he nodded once as well and left the room. Bruce waited until he couldn’t hear his son’s footsteps anymore and gestured for her to sit at the kitchen table.

“Marinette,” Bruce started, but she held up one finger with an awkward smile.

“He’s actually still there,” she said. Bruce frowned.

“How do you know?”

“I just do.”

Bruce walked back to the hall to catch Damian standing there with a sheepish expression. Bruce sighed and shook his head.

“Damian. I told you to go wait in the dining room, didn’t I?”

“Yes, Father.”

“Then why are you still here?” Bruce asked. Damian hesitated, searching for a suitable answer and Bruce raised an eyebrow. “Go to the dining room and wait there. Now.”

Damian turned and sulked off, looking for all the world like a kicked puppy. Bruce watched him walk all the way into the dining room and only turned back to Marinette when he could hear his sons talking to each other.

“How did you know he was there?” Bruce asked, moving to sit at the table with Marinette. She shrugged.

“I can sense the Lazarus pit on him and Jason. It has a specific magic energy that radiates off of them. I didn’t notice it on Damian at first, but I think it contributed to me thinking he was an akuma the other night when he touched my earring,” Marinette explained. “But, don’t tell Jason that’s how I always know he’s around. It’s a little different coming off of him than it is from Damian for some reason, so I don’t get the two of them confused, but it’s kind of entertaining to thwart his attempts to spy on me by telling him I know he’s there.”

“I won’t tell him,” Bruce promised. “But Marinette, I would like to apologize to you.”

“For what?” Marinette asked. “You haven’t done anything you would need to apologize for.”

“You were attacked in my home, Marinette, after I assured you and your parents that you would be safe here.”

“That wasn’t your fault, Mr. Wayne. You didn’t know Adrien would follow me here.”

“My family still should have done a better job of protecting you. And please, you can call me Bruce. There’s no need to be so formal after you’ve made my youngest happier than I’ve ever seen him.”

“I haven’t done anything though…” Marinette said, blushing bright red. “If anything he’s been the one helping me since we met, and I owe all of you so much…”

“You don’t owe us anything,” Bruce reassured her. Marinette shook her head.

“I do owe you though...you have no idea how much you and your family mean to me,” Marinette said, biting her lip before clarifying, “how much _Damian_ means to me.”

“You mean a lot to him too, and to the rest of us. But if anyone owes anyone anything, we’re the ones that owe you. We should have known about the situation in Paris and sent someone to help you years ago. You shouldn’t have had to deal with all of that on your own.”

Marinette stood up and hugged him before he even finished talking, startling him enough that he forgot the rest of the speech he had planned. He tentatively hugged her back. He supposed he should have expected her to be a hugger after seeing her interact with Damian and Dick the night before, but he hadn’t thought she would hug him. He was Batman. He was the night. He was...being comforted by the smallest girl he’d ever met.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt you, you just looked like you needed a hug, and I’ve been told I give pretty good ones,” she said, sitting back down as he released her. “You don’t have to feel guilty, though. You didn’t know...I don’t think you could have known. Hawkmoth is my responsibility anyway, so it’s not like I expected you to come help, and you’ve already helped me so much since I got to Gotham. If there’s ever a way I can return the favor, please let me help?”

“I’ll only let you help us if you let us help you, okay? Does that sound like a fair deal?”

“Deal. I do have a question for you though…”

“Oh?”

“I was wondering if you would approve of me—” Marinette started, hesitating as her nerves kicked in. She knew in her heart exactly what she wanted to say, but somewhere between forming the words and actually saying them, she got scared and the words changed to, “—testing Damian to be a Black Cat?”

“You want to choose Damian to be your Black Cat?” Bruce asked. It wasn’t quite what he had expected her to say, but the meaning was still there. “I know that’s a very significant thing, Marinette. Are you sure?”

“Plagg already agreed to test him,” Marinette said. “We’re both a little wary about replacing the Cat so quickly, but I trust Damian, and there’s just something about him...I don’t know how to describe it other than just a gut feeling, but for some reason I feel like he would make a good Black Cat. Master Fu has been encouraging me to trust my instincts on stuff like this, so I want to give Damian a chance, and I understand that he’s Robin and he has responsibilities here, but that’s why I wanted to ask you before I even started looking further into it. If you don’t approve of him helping me fight Hawkmoth in Paris, then I won’t bring it up again—”

“I approve,” Bruce assured her, interrupting her rambling. “Gotham will survive without Robin. But from what I understand, a Ladybug needs her Black Cat, and right now you don’t have one. I’m sure it would mean the world to Damian to know that you trust him that much.”

“Thank you,” Marinette said, smiling to hold back the flood of emotions she was feeling. She hadn’t really asked what she’d wanted to, but that was something she knew she’d need to ask sooner rather than later if she and Plagg were going to see about Damian wearing the ring, so at least her brain had word-vomited something useful for once.

“Of course. Now should we go join the boys in the dining room? I think I’ve kept you here long enough.”

~*~*~*~

“What’s got you looking like a kicked puppy, Demon Spawn? Can’t stand to be away from your Angel for five minutes while Bruce talks to her?”

“Shut up, Todd,” Damian snapped, sitting down at the table.

“Aw, but your smile from earlier is gone! Does that only exist around her?”

“Jason, I’m serious. Drop. It.”

“Really though, Baby Bird,” Dick said, distracting his brother before he could stab Jason with a butter knife, “when’s the wedding going to be? You can’t tell me you haven’t considered proposing to the girl who made you laugh.”

“Grayson, she’s sixteen!”

“And? You could at least get her a promise ring so she knows you’re serious. You’ve confessed by now, right?”

Damian narrowed his eyes at his older brother.

“Damian…”

“No! I need you guys to _back off_. No more spying, no more pushing. This isn’t something I know how to do, and she’s been through hell already. There’s a lot to what Agreste and her class did to her that we still don’t know and until we know that, I don’t want to do anything that could make her think I was like them,” Damian said, his frustration finally spilling over.

“We’ve just never seen you happy before, Baby Bird,” Dick said. “We don’t want you to lose it.”

“I don’t want to lose it, either,” Damian muttered, sinking lower in his seat with his arms crossed. “But there are a lot of ways I could fuck this up and lose her. I’m not good at emotions or words, and usually when I try to be sincere, I come off as blunt and rude. It’s easier to not do that with her for some reason, but I’ve clearly had trouble saying the things I mean around her already. And as for confessing...Dick, how long did it take you to confess to Kori?”

“It took a while,” Dick admitted. He rubbed the back of his neck with an awkward laugh. “I had to get my head out of my ass and realize that just because we were heroes and teammates first, that didn’t mean we couldn’t have a personal relationship too.”

“Didn’t she kiss you like, as soon as you met her?” Tim asked.

“Okay, in her defense, that’s how her people learn languages. She needed to communicate,” Dick huffed.

“I mean, that’s not quite the definition of French kissing most people think of…”

“Jason!”

Dick and Jason glared at each other for a second before Tim and Damian snickered and broke the tension. Damian watched his older brothers laugh with a mildly amused smirk.

“We get it, emotions are hard for Bruce Wayne’s sons,” Tim said after he calmed down. “We’re just trying to help.”

“I know, but the next person who tries to help by interfering or spying is going to get stabbed,” Damian warned.

“Understood,” Tim agreed.

“Whatever you say, Demon Spawn,” Jason said. Damian rolled his eyes but finally sat up straight in his chair again.

“Damian, do you remember when you were like thirteen and Bruce started dating Selena again? And you called trying to tell him you were concerned about his date, but instead you just called Selena a trollop and criticized his taste in women?” Dick asked. Jason snorted and Tim started laughing again.

“You’re the worst,” Damian said and glared at his brothers. “But go ahead and get your amusement from that story out now, because we are not bringing it up again while she’s here, understood?”

“Oh, come on. You were little! And she should probably know that you learned slang from people who were several centuries old and don’t understand modern slang very well,” Dick said.

“I understand modern slang just fine!” Damian protested.

“Oh yeah? What’s a thot?” Jason challenged. Damian frowned, very convinced that that is not a real word.

“Who’s a thot?” Marinette asked, walking in with Bruce.

“Dick is,” Tim teased.

“Rude!” Dick gasped, scandalized. Bruce sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“I swear I raised them better than this,” he muttered. Marinette just smiled and slid into the seat next to Damian, who immediately reached out to take her hand.

“So, Mari-bug, we still don’t know much about you,” Dick said.

“What do you mean? I told you guys a lot about me yesterday,” Marinette asked, tilting her head to the side.

“No, you actually told us a lot about Ladybug. What about Marinette, future queen of the fashion world and the first person to make Damian Wayne laugh?” Dick clarified.

“Oh. Most people just want to know about Ladybug…” Marinette said quietly, missing the concerned looks the Waynes sent each other. “I don’t really know where to start, but I’ll answer any questions you guys have?”

“Well, aside from working on your fashion label and being a superhero, what do you do in your spare time?”

“You say that like I have spare time,” Marinette said sarcastically. “I help out in my parents’ bakery a lot. I’ve done odd jobs and chores in there most of my life, and when I was thirteen they started trusting me to keep the bakery open when they had to go make deliveries. When I was fourteen they started teaching me how to bake some of the family recipes, which took a bit of trial and error, but I got the hang of it pretty quickly. If I can’t sleep, sometimes I’ll go downstairs and bake something to give my friends instead.”

“Your friends in your class?”

“No...not anymore. No, my best friends now are Luka Couffaine and Kagami Tsurugi. Luka is my classmate Juleka’s older brother and one of the guitarists in Kitty Section. He’s the main reason why I still design for them. He always gives me previews of their music so I can use their sound to inspire their costumes. Kagami is a fencer, who I actually got off on the wrong foot with at first, but we ended up getting really close. She’s practically my sister now.”

“Wait, did you say Kagami Tsurugi?” Dick asked, practically jumping out of his seat. “As in the world class fencer Kagami Tsurugi, who comes from a long line of world famous fencers?”

“You know about her?”

“Marinette, she’s famous! How many famous people do you know?”

Marinette had to pause for a minute to think. She started ticking off all of the names she knew well on her fingers. “There’s Clara, who basically treats me like family; Uncle Jagged; Luka and Kagami, and Kagami’s mother, Tomoe; my great uncle Wang who is a famous chef in China and won the World’s Greatest Chef contest a few years ago; I know XY and his manager but we don’t talk about them after they tried stealing my designs; Audrey Bourgeois and Gabriel Agreste, which sounds obvious but I actually have gotten to work with them outside of being in the same class as their kids; my mom is friends with the reporter Nadja Chamack and I babysit her daughter; and I technically met Prince Ali once but I met him when I saved him as Ladybug so I don’t know if that counts. Oh, and you guys. You guys count too.”

“Do we?” Jason asked, amused.

“Well, you’re famous enough that Lila lied about dating Damian so...yeah, you count,” Marinette said.

“Wait, is that where the Damiboo thing came from yesterday?” Tim asked.

“Yep,” Marinette said, keeping her tone carefully neutral. “If you’re famous, Lila will lie about knowing you. That’s just how it goes.”

“What do you mean?”

“Lila lies about everything,” Marinette said. She wouldn’t meet anyone’s eye as she continued, “including the people who try to expose her.”

“Did you try to expose her?” Bruce asked carefully. Marinette smiled tightly, seemingly fascinated by a spot on the table.

“Why do you think my class hates me? The first thing she ever lied about was being Ladybug’s best friend during an interview for the Ladyblog,” Marinette said. “Obviously I knew she was lying, so I tried to warn my class so they wouldn’t believe what she was saying, but no one would listen to me without proof. She didn’t like that I was questioning her, so she started lying about me and turned them all against me.”

“She _what_?” Damian asked, barely restraining himself from yelling at her unintentionally. Marinette shrugged.

“Why do you think the class was so upset when Bruce called her out for lying about knowing you yesterday?” she asked. “It was the first time someone else called her out instead of just me, even though Adrien knew she was lying too...she did warn me, once. She said that if I didn’t start going along with her lies, she would turn everyone against me. I didn’t actually think she would succeed but...here we are.”

The room was silent, but Marinette didn’t notice. She was still staring at the spot on the table and clearly lost in thought. 

“Marinette,” Bruce said, bringing her back to the present, “have you called your parents yet to let them know you’re okay? There were some reporters here last night and something like that would probably end up on international news pretty quickly. They might be worried about you.”

“I forgot to call...I haven’t been on my phone to see if they even wanted to check on me,” Marinette said. “I should probably go do that though...excuse me.”

Bruce nodded and Marinette left the room to go get her phone.

“That little liar _threatened_ her? And none of her so-called friends stood up for her?” Damian growled as soon as he was sure she was out of earshot. “Agreste even knew what was happening and did nothing? And had the nerve to show up here last night?”

“Damian, you need to calm down,” Bruce said.

“I should have killed him.”

“Damian!” Bruce snapped, startling his son. “That is enough. I understand that you’re angry but killing him doesn’t undo the damage he already did, and it probably would have only upset Marinette more. If you want to help her, I’ll give you permission to go to Paris with her when she leaves, but we do not kill. Understood?”

“As if you could stop me from going to Paris,” Damian grumbled.

~*~*~*~

Luka and Kagami were hanging out on the Couffaine family houseboat together. Kagami was practicing her fencing technique for a tournament she had coming up, and Luka was playing his guitar to match the song in her heart. The chords were clear and steady and focused, just like they always were when he watched her train. Ever since they started dating, Luka loved playing along to the symphony in Kagami’s heart. It wasn’t always the clearest melody, and sometimes all of the stress and emotions she felt raged at him like a hurricane, but the eye of the storm was never too far away. He hadn’t been surprised at all to discover she was Ryuuko...Ladybug had encouraged them to reveal their identities to each other when she found out they were dating as civilians. He couldn’t imagine anyone else would be able to control a storm like she could. He kept mindlessly strumming along until his phone dinged and startled them both, causing him to hit a sour note. He unlocked it and opened the new messages.

**Jules: Have you or Kagami heard from Marinette?**

**Jules: We’ve been trying to get a hold of her since last night but she won’t answer anyone**

“Tissi, have you heard from Marinette?” Luka called. Kagami lowered her sword and shook her head.

“Not in a couple of days...I presumed she was just busy on the trip and would reach out if she needed us,” Kagami said. “Why?”

“Jules just messaged me. Apparently they’ve been trying to reach her all night but she’s not answering anyone,” Luka said.

“Is she not with them? She was meant to be with them!” Kagami said, running over. She took Luka’s phone from him to read Juleka’s message for herself. “Gotham is more dangerous than Paris is, Luka. If she’s not with the class…”

“Relax, Fortissima. I’m sure she’s okay,” Luka soothed. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer. “Why don’t we call her and make sure, yeah? Mari is smart, and she won’t put herself in unnecessary danger.”

“Have you not paid attention to how many akuma attacks she’s been caught up in? She’s practically a magnet for trouble! I know she can defend herself, but she’s just a civilian! If anything happened…”

“Kagami, breathe. I’m positive she’s fine,” Luka lied. He took his phone back from her and called Marinette. He put it on speaker, and the two waited for her to answer with bated breath.

It took three rings, but finally the call connected.

“Luka? Is everything okay?” Marinette asked, and the couple sighed in relief.

“It is now,” Luka said. “Juleka texted me asking if we had heard from you. Apparently they’ve been trying to contact you since last night? What happened?”

“Do we need to go to Gotham, Mari-hime? Why are you not with your class? I understand they’re terrible, but you’re safer in a group,” Kagami said.

“It’s a really long story,” Marinette said. She started from the beginning and told them almost everything that happened up until she left the class. She left out the details about her maybe-a-date with Damian and the fabric store incident, however. After telling Damian and his family, she knew she wanted to tell them her identity too, but it was better if she waited to tell them in person as opposed to them finding out on their own. Too many details from the fabric store incident could tip them off.

“So...wait, let me make sure I understand this. Your teacher was neglectful—”

“—which we should have anticipated—”

“—and you met a boy—”

“—who turned out to be Damian Wayne—”

“—and he was so upset by Bustier putting you in danger by constantly leaving you behind—”

“—as he should have been, and as are we, by the way, Mari-hime—”

“—that he told his father, Bruce Wayne, who called your parents and had you pulled from the trip? And now instead of staying in the hotel with your class, you’re a guest at Wayne Manor?”

“That about sums it up,” Marinette said.

“You’ve barely been gone a few days...do you ever have a normal adventure, Mari-hime?”

“Apparently not,” Marinette laughed.

“I desperately want to ask what specifically happened to make Juleka ask us to call you, but first, what’s going on with Damian?” Luka asked.

“Luka, there’s nothing—”

“Mari, I can hear your song from Paris,” he interrupted with a knowing smile. “It’s clearer and stronger than it’s ever been. There’s something between you two already, and you know it.”

“I made him a jacket,” Marinette said. Her voice was muffled, as if she had covered her face, but they both understood exactly what she said, and what it meant.

“Oh, it’s _that_ serious,” Kagami said.

“It’s not serious! It’s, I don’t know what it is,” Marinette admitted. “All I know is Gotham is really cold and you guys know I don’t do well in the cold and I was worried about him getting sick so I made him a jacket.” 

“Mari, you only design gifts for people you really care about, let alone work to finish an entire jacket overnight. Plus, you’re a guest in his house...that sounds pretty serious to me,” Luka said.

“Has he done anything to you, Mari-hime? Tried to pressure you into anything?”

“No, of course he hasn’t! He’s been a perfect gentleman,” Marinette huffed.

“Well, we’ll have to come meet him and decide if he’s worthy of you,” Luka teased.

“I’ll handle the flights!” Kagami joined in, pulling out her phone to look up flights.

“Guys, no!” Marinette protested. “Kagami, you have your tournament when I get back, you need to train! It’s why you stayed in Paris in the first place, remember?”

“But that was before you met your soulmate, Mari-hime! We have to go and make sure he’s worthy, unlike Agreste, and warn him not to hurt you,” Kagami said. The line was quiet for just long enough to indicate something was very wrong on the other end.

“Marinette? What happened?”

“Adrien...he um, he broke into Wayne Manor last night and tried to force me to go back to the class trip with him. That’s why the class was worried,” Marinette admitted. “I didn’t answer their messages because I didn’t want to talk to them. Bruce Wayne exposed Lila yesterday when he came to pull me from the class trip, so there’s been a lot of drama and I don’t know if Lila managed to sway them back in her favor or not. I don’t really want to know right now. It’s just, it’s been a long few days.”

“Okay, Marinette, in all seriousness: the first flight I can find two tickets for is on Friday morning. It’s Tuesday evening in Paris right now, so that means it’s Tuesday morning for you. We can be there for the weekend and all of next week if you need us, and it sounds like you do,” Kagami said. “Mother adores you, so she’ll understand. She gives me as much freedom as I need as long as you or Luka are involved and I’ve been keeping up with my studies and training, which I have been.”

“The same goes for my mom, Mari. Besides, the rest of Kitty Section are all on your trip, and the only plans I had for next week were all meet ups with Jagged to talk about maybe going on tour with him this summer after you and Kagami and the rest of the band graduate, but I know if I told him you needed me he would reschedule in a heartbeat,” Luka promised. “We’ll be there, all you have to do is say you need us.”

“If you come...there’s one more thing I think you should know,” Marinette said. She took a deep breath to ground herself, then said, “Adrien was Chat Noir. That’s how he broke in.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think? I love chatting with y'all in the comments!


	14. This is Your Badness Level

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And the testing process begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was super fun to write, so I hope y'all like it too!

“What do you mean Adrien was Chat Noir?” Kagami demanded. “Are you hurt? What happened?”

“No one got hurt,” Marinette said. Luka and Kagami waited patiently for Marinette to continue, but they looked at each other in concern when her voice shook as she continued, “Damian almost did though...he distracted Chat to protect me...he almost got cataclysmed…”

“He _what_?” Kagami hissed. Luka could hear her song whip back up into a hurricane and started keeping an eye out for any little butterflies that might make an appearance.

“What did you do?” he asked. “If Chat Noir did attack you, how did you stop him?”

“I called Ladybug,” Marinette said quietly. “I told her what happened and she used a portal to get to Gotham. She took his ring away.”

“So he’s not Chat Noir anymore?”

“It’s about time.”

“Tissi, as much as I agree, you know that was a hard situation for Ladybug. I wonder if she’ll replace him.”

“She didn’t say,” Marinette said. “She took the ring and made sure everyone was okay, and then she left again. I wouldn’t be surprised if she did replace him though.”

“Hawkmoth and Mayura are going to have a field day when your class gets back to Paris, Mari,” Luka said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried to pull another Heroes’ Day and send out multiple akumas and sentimonsters.”

“I’m just glad he’s not in Gotham, or there would have been several akumas already…” Marinette trailed off, but the implication hung in the air.

“You’ll be fine, Mari-hime. We won’t let you be akumatized,” Kagami promised.

“Thank you,” Marinette said. “Hey, would you guys do me a favor? I tried calling my parents before you called me, but they’re busy with a huge order this week and couldn’t talk. Would you mind stopping by and just let them know I’m okay? I don’t want them to hear about Adrien on the news and get worried.”

“Of course, we can stop by,” Luka said. “I could go for a macaron anyway, what about you, Tissi?”

“That sounds like a good break,” Kagami agreed. “We’ll text you after we talk to them, okay? You should go enjoy the rest of your day.”

“And keep us up to date on how things are going with Damian,” Luka teased.

“Luka!”

“He’s going to have to duel me for your hand!” Kagami added.

“Jiějiě a!” Marinette whined, causing her best friends to laugh.

“Bye, Mari,” Luka sang and hung up the phone. Kagami kissed him quickly before walking over to her bag.

“I’m going to call Mother and fill her in on our plans to go to Gotham, and then we can go to the bakery?”

“Sounds like a plan, Tissi.”

~*~*~*~

Marinette huffed and put her phone away without answering any other messages. There wasn’t anyone else she needed to talk to anyway. She had gotten Fu caught up before calling her parents, and he gave her his blessing to test Damian as a potential Cat. She figured now that Luka and Kagami knew she was fine, Luka would tell Juleka to get the class to back off, so she didn’t bother telling them herself. Even if he didn’t, she didn’t think they were genuinely worried about her, anyway. She was positive they just wanted to know what she did to get Adrien arrested...or at least find some way to blame her for it.

_Remember what Dick said. This is Adrien’s fault, not mine. No matter what they might think, I didn’t cause this…_

She took a second to compose herself again and went back downstairs. She went to the dining room, but didn’t see anyone in there, so she made her way to the kitchen next.

“You look lost, Marinette,” Alfred observed when she walked in. “Is everything okay?”

“I can’t find the others...I went to call my parents and when I came back downstairs, they weren’t in the dining room and the manor is so big I’m not really sure where to start looking…”

“They’re in the living room,” Alfred said with a warm smile.

“I should have checked there,” Marinette said. Plagg flew over from where he was sitting near Alfred with Tikki.

“Are we gonna test the kid or not?” he asked.

“Yes, Plagg. I’ve already cleared it with Bruce and with Master Fu. They both approve of us giving him a chance, so let’s go see if we can’t figure out why we think he’d be a good fit,” Marinette said. “Tikki, are you coming too? Or do you want to stay with Alfred?”

“And miss my Chosen getting to do real Guardian stuff for the first time? I know you’ve given out Miraculouses before, but this is the way the Temple used to choose new holders. No one has done it this way in years,” Tikki said. 

“So, no pressure, then,” Marinette said, suddenly feeling nervous.

“Marinette, relax. Just follow your instincts. You’ll know if he’s a good fit or not,” Tikki promised. Marinette nodded.

She made her way down to the living room, but before she got there, a wall of photos caught her attention. A lot of the photos were formal portraits, but the smaller frames held more candid photos of holidays and family hangouts. One of the pictures of a much younger Jason had him sitting in front of a cake with his face covered in frosting while Dick was laughing in the background. There was a picture like that of Tim too a little ways away, this time with Jason laughing and Dick watching with a smug grin, and another one of a slightly older Dick who looked like Jason and Tim had smashed cupcakes on his face. She couldn’t find one with Damian in it, though. The earliest photo she found of him was him with his father and Dick standing outside the manor. Bruce and Dick were both smiling, but Damian had the most serious expression Marinette had ever seen on a child. She was studying the photo when she sensed Damian coming down the hall.

_Why was he so upset?_

“There you are, Angel,” he said, resting a hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Dami. I just got distracted by the pictures on my way to the living room,” Marinette explained, smiling up at him.

“Oh. Did you talk to your parents?”

“No, they couldn’t come to the phone when I called. They have a huge delivery to prepare this week and since I’m not there to help, it’s just the two of them,” Marinette explained. She turned back to the photo wall and leaned against Damian when he pulled her closer.

“They still should have answered, Angel. You’re their daughter.”

“I’m used to it,” Marinette shrugged. “The bakery is really popular, but it’s really small. It’s just the three of us working in it, and I only really help out when I’m not busy with school or designing or friends or akumas. Not that they know about that last part...but them not being so active in my life means I can get away to fight akumas if I need to. We still talk, obviously. They know about the bullying problems I’ve had, and I tell them about my designing and we play video games together. Not to mention, they adore Luka and Kagami. They’re just busy, and they know I’ve always been self-sufficient, so they trust me to make good choices and take care of myself.”

Damian hummed and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her back against his chest. She settled into his embrace and he rested his chin on her head. She couldn’t help but enjoy the way it felt.

“Dami? Why aren’t you in more of these photos? I know you’re the youngest, but why aren’t there more photos of you?”

“I don’t really like photos, and a lot of those were taken either before I moved to Gotham or while I was living in Jump City with the Teen Titans,” Damian explained. 

“Where did you live before you moved to Gotham?”

“With my mother and my grandfather in the Arabian peninsula. I mentioned my grandfather last night—”

“—when you were talking about the Lazarus pits. I remember,” Marinette finished for him. She twisted in his arms to look up at him. “What were they like?”

Damian pulled her closer, as if trying to protect her from some invisible enemy. Marinette rested her hand over one of his and intertwined their fingers. She waited patiently for him to decide what to tell her. When he finally spoke, his voice was quiet.

“They were assassins,” he said and loosened his hold on her. She realized he was giving her space to run; he expected her to be afraid of him. “My grandfather was the leader of the League of Assassins, and my mother and uncle were high-ranking assassins. For the first ten years of my life, they trained me to be an assassin as well. I was the heir to my grandfather’s legacy, and nothing less than perfection would be tolerated. But when I was ten, my grandfather’s right-hand man staged a coup and wiped out a significant number of the league’s members, my grandfather included. After that my mother brought me to Gotham to live with my father, who spent a long time afterwards training me to bring in criminals alive, regardless of how much my training kept insisting I should kill them. Then he sent me to the Titans for a couple of years to learn how to work with others better. I was...well, there’s a reason Jason calls me a demon.”

“Oh, Damian,” Marinette said softly. She let go of his hand and turned around in his arms, which were barely holding her anymore. She cupped his cheek and waited for him to look down at her; when he did, her eyes were full of sympathy and another emotion he couldn’t quite place. “I’m so sorry.”

“Why are you sorry? It wasn’t your fault, Angel. You have nothing to be sorry for.”

“I’m sorry you had to go through all of that, Dami. You deserve happiness, and I’m sorry you haven’t had much happiness in your life,” she said. He stared down at her in awe, wondering how he ever got so lucky as to meet someone like her.

And then she utterly confused him by saying something in a language he had never heard before.

“Wait, what was that?” he asked. Marinette blinked a couple of times, looking just as confused as he was until her eyes widened and she covered her mouth with one hand.

“Oh, that makes so much sense,” she whispered, dropping her hand to her heart—no, a little higher, where her necklace with the ring on it was resting under her romper. She noticed Damian’s baffled expression and quickly shook her head. “I didn’t mean it like that...I don’t know how to explain it though, um...Damian, were you like Stitch when you first moved to Gotham?”

“Angel, I have no idea what that means.”

“I don’t know how to put it into words...wait, my sketchbook! I can draw it for you...stay here. I’ll be right back,” she said. She pulled out of his arms and raced down the hall towards her room. She almost crashed into Dick and Jason as she tried to round the corner though, and made a very strange sound as she skidded to a stop. “Sorry, excuse me! I’ll be right back.”

And then she was gone.

“What the hell was that about?” Jason asked. “What did you say to her?”

“I told her I grew up in the League of Assassins, and then she said something in a language I’ve never heard before and asked something about stitches—which might not have translated right and maybe she meant to ask if I had stitches when I moved to Gotham—and then she ran off to get her sketchbook…” Damian trailed off, still staring at the corner she’d disappeared around. He finally met his brother’s eyes, and they looked exactly as confused as he felt. “I have no idea what just happened.”

~*~*~*~

Marinette raced up to her room to grab her sketchbook. She pulled it out of her bag with a few different colored pencils and spun around on her heels, bumping right into Plagg.

“I didn’t realize you followed me up here,” Marinette said distractedly. Her thoughts were all over the place, but kept circling to what she had said in the language Master Fu had been trying to teach her for years with no success.

_He can handle destruction. He’s a true Cat._

“You just spoke the old Guardian language,” Plagg said. “As in the language used in the grimoire. I didn’t know you could speak it.”

“Master Fu taught me to read it, but I’ve never actually been able to speak it before. He always said I’d figure it out when I was ready,” Marinette said. “I just thought he meant after years of studying and practicing it, not literally when I was trying to fulfill a traditional Guardian duty…”

“So are you giving him the ring?”

“I still want to be sure...I know without a doubt he has potential, but I still want to do this right. I’m going to confirm my hunch, and then we’ll test him properly, but I think he’ll wear the ring tomorrow.”

“Then get to it, Bug. Your Cat is waiting.”

Marinette nodded and raced back downstairs. This time she almost ran into Tim as he came to investigate what was going on.

“Sorry!” she said, darting between the brothers to get back to where she left Damian in front of the photos. She opened her sketchbook to a clean page and tapped the pencil against the paper, almost unsure of where to start.

“Angel, breathe. What’s going on?” Damian asked. Marinette took a deep breath, and her eyes locked on the photo of him with Bruce and Dick.

“That photo is from when you were ten, right? When you moved here?”

“Yes. I just don’t understand why that’s important right now,” Damian said. Marinette nodded once and started sketching out the boy in the photo.

“Yeah, Mari-bug, you’re running around like a bat out of hell—” Jason cut himself off when everyone in the hallway shot him an unimpressed look. “Okay that pun wasn’t intentional, and if it was I would have directed it at Damian. Pipsqueak is all over the place and it was an appropriate idiom. Don’t look at me like that.”

“Damian is Stitch,” Marinette said simply as she turned back to her sketchbook.

“Like, from Lilo and Stitch?” Tim asked.

“Exactly,” she said. She finished the sketch and tucked her pencil behind her ear to hold the red colored pencil she’d brought instead. She motioned for Damian to look at the drawing, and all of the others came to look as well. “So, this is you right when you left the League of Assassins and came to Gotham, right? When you had to start unlearning your training?”

“Yes,” Damian said slowly. Marinette nodded again and started filling in the drawing with red colored pencil, starting from his feet and all the way up to his eyes.

“So, for lack of a better way to phrase it, I’m guessing this was your badness level, which is unusually high for someone your size,” Marinette said. Tim and Jason started snickering.

“She’s got you there, Demon Spawn,” Jason said. 

“Angel,” Damian started, but was interrupted by Tim starting to laugh even harder. Damian glared at him but continued, “I can’t say you’re wrong, but I still don’t understand what you’re getting at.”

“Just, hear me out?” Marinette begged. Damian nodded, and she smiled before drawing a second sketch next to the first one. This one was larger, but was clearly an aged-up version of original. “This is you now. They still call you Demon Spawn, but you’re good, Damian. I know you are. So now, you look more like this.”

He watched as she filled in the sketch in red from the waist down. She then held the red pencil between her teeth and grabbed the blue pencil she’d brought instead, using that to fill in the rest of the drawing. Once she was done, she took the pencil out from between her teeth and pointed to the new drawing.

“Now, you’re more balanced,” she said. Damian was impressed by how she expertly ignored Tim, who was having trouble breathing with how hard he was laughing. “You aren’t perfectly good, and I’m sure you still have to fight not to give into your bad side and to control it, but you can control it. You understand the consequences of being destructive.”

Dick’s eyes widened as he realized what Marinette was getting at. He looked between her and Damian, then at the ring at her neck that she was mindlessly playing with and elbowed Jason. Tim was sitting on the floor and wheezing in an attempt to finally catch his breath, so Dick decided he was a lost cause, but he noticed Jason had focused in on the ring with wide eyes and knew he had figured it out too.

“How do you know that?” Damian asked quietly. “You’ve only known me for a few days...how do you already know…?”

“Guardian instinct,” Marinette said, shrugging. “I kind of just...know. Like all of the pieces clicked into place. Then I got excited but I didn’t have the words to explain why, at least, not in English.”

“You could have said it in a different language, Angel,” Damian said. “I speak French and Mandarin, along with several other languages. I would have understood.”

“You speak French?” Marinette asked. Damian nodded. “Huh. Well, that’s good to know. But I’m actually positive you don’t speak the language that I did have the words to explain myself in. I only know of one other person alive who speaks it, and that’s because he’s the person who taught it to me.”

“You speak a dead language?” Dick asked.

“I can read it better than I can speak it, but yes,” Marinette said. “It’s the language of the Guardians. I don’t even know if it has an actual name or not, but it was used solely in their temple before it was destroyed more than a century ago. Master Fu was the only survivor, and he’s the last person who can kind of speak it. But the book about the Miraculouses is written in that language, so he’s been teaching it to me. I guess it finally clicked.”

“So, you speak four languages including the dead one?” Jason asked.

“Technically five. I learned Italian from my nonna and my dad. I’m not fluent, but I know enough,” Marinette said.

“How do you speak five languages? I only speak one!” Jason exclaimed.

“Jason, sometimes you can’t even speak one,” Dick sassed.

“Rude!”

“Wait, you said Master Fu was the only survivor when the temple was destroyed? Don’t you mean his ancestor was?” Damian asked.

“No. Master Fu is 190 years old,” Marinette said.

“That’s not possible, not if you didn’t know about the Lazarus pits…”

“I’m a French teenager with a pair of magic earrings and a ladybug goddess in my pocket who turns me into a superhero,” Marinette deadpanned. “Nothing is impossible. He said it was something to do with his lifestyle, but he didn’t tell me what specifically it was.”

“That still seems unlikely, but as Alfred reminded me, it’s magic and not science so I have no clue what’s possible,” Tim said. Damian shot him a look.

“About time you remembered how to breathe,” Damian said. “Do you want to share what was so funny?”

“She called you Stitch!” Tim said.

“Yes? It was accurate,” Marinette said, looking at her sketches.

“No, I know that—which is also hilarious—but in the series, Stitch had a pink girlfriend named Angel,” Tim pointed out. Dick and Jason slowly turned to look at a very confused Damian and an increasingly flustered Marinette.

“Oh my god…” Dick whispered.

“I knew she warped us into a Disney movie!” Jason yelled. That was enough to send Tim into another giggle fit on the floor while Marinette hid her face behind her sketchbook.

“I still don’t understand,” Damian muttered.

Tim laughed even harder.

~*~*~*~

The first thing Nathalie did after her flight landed at the Gotham International Airport was go to the hotel she’d booked and drop off her bags in the room. She triple-checked that the valuables she’d brought with her were secure before leaving again.

The next thing she did was what the entire purpose of her trip was: to bail Adrien out of jail and figure out just how much trouble he was in. 

She knew that in his anger, Gabriel had been half-tempted to just leave Adrien to fend for himself, but that presented its own problems. Adrien could see fit to retaliate by revealing his father’s identity as Hawkmoth and her identity as Mayura, which would get Adrien in more trouble but would drag both of them down with him. Nathalie had no difficulty imagining Adrien getting himself in trouble to spite someone else, not after he turned on Ladybug and the way he treated Miss Dupain-Cheng. It would also be counter-productive to let Adrien just rot in jail when Gabriel had become Hawkmoth solely to reunite his family. Nathalie didn’t think they could get him out of trouble completely, not if they were going against Wayne Enterprises’ lawyers, but she hoped they could at least figure out a reduced sentence, or one that allowed Adrien to serve the time in Paris.

When she got to the precinct Adrien was being held in, however, she was told that the consulate and police both agreed that Adrien wasn’t to be given bail. They considered him a flight risk. He was to be held in the local detention center until his trial.

Which made Nathalie’s job significantly harder.

She convinced them to let her at least speak with him, and an officer escorted her to a room to wait in. After a few minutes, Adrien was brought in. He was angry, but that anger turned to muted surprise when he saw her sitting there alone.

“Nathalie? What are you doing here?” Adrien asked slowly. She knew he wanted to specifically ask why she was there _alone_ , and the silence where that word was meant to be hung around them.

“Your father had business to attend to in Paris, so he sent me here ahead of him to assess the situation,” Nathalie explained. “He arrives Friday morning and will stay here until your trial. We had hoped to get you out on bail, but the consulate decided that wasn’t a viable option.”

“I was just trying to help her and the class,” Adrien muttered.

“I’d advise you to wait until your lawyers arrive to continue talking about this, Adrien,” Nathalie said with a stern glare. “Don’t get yourself into more trouble.”

“Yes, Nathalie.”

The lawyers Gabriel had hired arrived not long after, and they spent a while discussing Adrien’s options. Their best option was to appeal for the Waynes to have the case thrown out completely. Nathalie had very little faith in that plan, especially considering Adrien was reluctant to actually apologize in a sincere enough manner that they would take pity on him. If it was just Marinette involved, Nathalie was sure they could get her to throw out the case, but the Waynes were not going to be so easy to manipulate.

Eventually, jet lag and her illness started to catch up with her, so Nathalie excused herself and went back to the hotel to rest. She laid down on the bed and fell asleep almost instantly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Chinese word Marinette calls Kagami (Jiějiě) means big sister.
> 
> Let me know what y'all think! <3


	15. Ohana Means Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette sees the Batcave for the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is fluff. Fluff with emotions, anyway.

Once Tim, Jason, and Dick finally stopped laughing, they dragged Marinette and Damian up to the theater room to watch the first Lilo and Stitch movie so Damian would understand what Marinette was talking about. In a move that shocked no one at this point, Damian and Marinette gravitated towards each other and ended up curled up together on one of the couches. Damian had his arm around her shoulders and she was resting her head on his with a content smile. Jason rolled his eyes at the two, but Dick just smiled and shook his head while Tim started the movie. About fifteen minutes into the movie, Marinette decided to peek up at Damian to see if he was enjoying the movie or not.

He was looking down at her instead.

“Damian, you’re not even watching,” Marinette whispered, feeling her face heat up. She was suddenly very grateful Tim had turned off the lights before he pressed play. Damian smiled softly at her.

“I’m watching what’s important,” he whispered back. Marinette’s eyes widened as her heart skipped a beat. She huffed and turned her attention back to the movie, trying to hide how flustered he’d made her. She felt Damian chuckle but stubbornly didn’t look up at him again.

She did notice that he held her just a little tighter during the “Ohana means family” parts, though.

There was one scene at the end of the movie that got four out of five of them to laugh, and Marinette felt Damian snicker too. It was a montage of day-to-day activities for Lilo, Stitch, Nani, and their little ohana, and Stitch was doing laundry. He pulled a bikini top onto his head with his ears tucked into it and wrapped a red blanket around his shoulders like a cape, and then ran around the room in a clear attempt at being Batman.

“Do you really think I’m like Stitch?” Damian asked when the credits ended. Marinette untangled herself from his arms and sat up just before Tim turned the lights back on.

“There were a lot of similarities, Baby Bird,” Dick said smugly.

“And I personally don’t believe you never played dress up with your father’s cape,” Marinette teased quietly.

“Oh, I wonder if there’s any old footage of that! Alfred would know!” Jason said, jumping up and running out of the room.

“I never did that,” Damian scowled, but Marinette thought it looked more like a pout. “Dick is the one that wears Father’s suit when he can’t be Batman.”

“If you say so,” Marinette teased. “Speaking of that, do you guys patrol every night?”

“For the most part, yeah,” Tim said. “We don’t all go out every night, especially Dick and Damian because they usually split their time between Gotham and Jump City, but someone goes out every night.”

“So, you’ll be going out tonight then?” she asked, looking up at Damian. He frowned.

“I actually wasn’t planning on it...I thought I’d stay here, and maybe we could make plans instead?” Damian asked. Marinette flushed.

“I was actually going to ask if I could join you on patrol,” she said.

“Really?” Damian asked. “But what about your identity? Ladybug isn’t supposed to be in Gotham...what if someone saw you? Especially someone from your class?”

“I was actually thinking that I might alter some clothes I have with me to cover the wings and spots? The new costume is mostly black, so I just need a jacket and probably shorts to cover the spots on my thighs, and I doubt anyone will notice the mask anyway,” Marinette said.

“Why don’t you use one of our old suits?” Dick suggested. “One of Damian’s old ones might fit you, and I’m sure you’d look adorable in it.”

“Would that be okay?” Marinette asked. This time it was Damian’s turn to blush.

“Yeah, that would be okay,” he said awkwardly.

“Then let’s go!” Dick cheered, grabbing Marinette’s hand and dragging her off the couch. 

“Wait, where are we going?” she asked as she was pulled through the manor. They went down so many different hallways and staircases she knew she would get lost if she ever tried to follow this path on her own.

“The Batcave,” Tim said. He was following behind with Damian, who looked put-out but was trying to hide it.

“Wait, that’s a real thing? I thought that was a joke,” Marinette said.

“Father takes his theme very seriously,” Damian said.

They finally rounded a corner and walked into the cave, and Marinette’s eyes widened in awe as she looked around.

“This place is huge...I was expecting a garage or a room or something,” she admitted. “This is insane.”

“No, what’s insane is that I can’t find any old surveillance footage of Damian running around wearing Bruce’s cape!” Jason called from where he sat at the cave’s computer. Bruce was standing next to him, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Jason, I told you: I am almost positive Damian never did that,” Bruce said. “Can you please let me use the computer again? I was working on something.”

“Fine,” Jason muttered, getting up and walking over to the group. “What’s Pipsqueak doing down here? I thought you guys were going to watch more Lilo and Stitch stuff. There’s still the whole series before Angel is introduced.”

“She wants to use one of our old costumes to disguise her Ladybug suit so she can come out on patrol with us tonight,” Tim explained.

“Oh. In that case, the suits are over here,” Jason said, waving her over. Marinette followed, excited to see what she would have to work with…

...and scared everyone when she shrieked.

“What was that? Other than high-pitched,” Jason asked with a wince. They all turned to Marinette, who was staring at the costumes with a horrified expression.

“What _are_ those…?” she whispered.

“The old suits,” Bruce said, raising one eyebrow as he spun around in his chair to look at them.

“But why? Who designed these?” she asked. She walked over to a dark blue suit with a high collar, a v-neck, vibrant blue trim, and yellow accents. “Who did this?”

“That’s one of Dick’s suits,” Jason said. “We all either came up with our own suits or worked with Bruce to design or redesign them. Most of the Robin suits are redesigns that we worked on together.”

“I thought that suit was cool,” Dick muttered. Marinette turned to him, somehow even more horrified.

“Mon Dieu...no, no it wasn’t,” she said. Dick pouted, and Damian decided to try and distract her.

“Angel, is there anything here that you think could work?” he asked. She turned back to the costumes—clearly avoiding some of Dick’s old costumes—and found herself drawn to a smaller Robin costume with a hooded cape like the one Damian was wearing when he brought her back to her hotel room. She reached out to feel the material, then decided to pick it up and try it on. Despite it being smaller than most of the other suits she saw, she was still swimming in the cape and knew there was no way she could wear it over her suit. She was way too clumsy for a cape that long.

“This has potential, but I can’t wear it as-is...it’s too long, and there’s too much fabric. It would throw off my coordination too much. I’d have to cut it up and turn it into a jacket of some sort, and I don’t want to ruin it,” Marinette said. She looked up and blushed faintly when she realized Damian was staring at her.

“You know we don’t wear these suits anymore, right Mari-bug? They’re just collecting dust at this point,” Dick said.

“It’s still a part of your history…” she said quietly. The longer she was wearing the cape, the more clearly she could picture what she would do with the material if it didn’t mean she had to destroy something to make it.

“Angel, if you were to make it your own...then it’s a part of your history too,” Damian pointed out. Marinette looked like she was about to argue, so he kept talking, “No one else is ever going to wear that cape again. Every time there’s a new addition to the family, they get a new suit. Sometimes it’s a new version of the Robin suit and sometimes it’s something completely different. If you really want to use one of our suits to patrol with us, you can modify it however you want.”

It was quiet for a few minutes after Damian finished, but for different reasons. Bruce was watching the pair with wide eyes, since he fully understood the implications of what Damian said. Jason, Dick, and Tim were waiting to see if Marinette would actually agree to use Damian’s old cape. He’d replaced it a few times anyway, since he was much taller now than he was when he started out as Robin, so he was right in saying it wouldn’t be worn again, but they weren’t sure if she would see it that way. Damian was entirely focused on her while trying to ignore the fact that he’d essentially told her he wanted her to be part of his family in front of his father and brothers, and Marinette was fiddling with the edge of the cape as the potential design cemented itself in her mind.

“Are you sure it’s okay?” she finally asked, looking directly at Damian for confirmation.

“Of course it is, Habibiti. I wouldn’t lie to you,” he promised. Tim’s jaw dropped.

“...okay,” Marinette said. Damian let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding when she didn’t ask about the nickname. He hadn’t meant to say it, but it slipped out and he wasn’t ready to actually translate it for her if she’d asked. “I know what to do with the cape.”

“You can work down here if you want to,” Bruce offered. “There’s plenty of space, and that way it would be easier for you to grab another suit if you wanted more fabric?”

“Thank you,” Marinette said. “I just want to run up and grab my sketchbook and sewing stuff…and hopefully not get lost.”

“I’ll get it for you,” Damian offered. “I know you left your sketchbook in the theater, and if you tell me where your sewing kit is, I can get that too?”

“No, it’s okay. I’ll be fine,” Marinette promised. She put the cape on an empty workbench in the cave before making her way back up to the main part of the house.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Plagg and Tikki floated out from their pocket in Marinette’s romper.

“Are you trying to make yourself a part of their family already, Bug?” Plagg teased. Marinette flushed and glared at him.

“That’s not what this is about, Plagg. I’m going on patrol with them to see how Damian acts as a hero,” Marinette said. “I’ve heard rumors about him being a more serious Robin, but rumors aren’t always true, and people in Paris thought Adrien took things seriously enough as Chat Noir. I don’t want to give him the ring and find out he’s just as reckless.”

“You should also figure out if you’d be okay with him flirting behind the mask too,” Tikki pointed out. “You didn’t like it when Chat did that, but is Damian different?”

“I,” Marinette started, then hesitated. She hadn’t minded Chat’s flirting at first, but it had quickly devolved into something that made her uncomfortable, especially after she told him she liked someone else and he still continued to push. It had caused a lot of problems during akuma attacks, particularly the Oblivio attack when they lost their memories...but Damian wasn’t like that. He hadn’t flirted with her when he helped her as Robin, but he also didn’t know that she knew who he was then. Would he flirt with her more now that they knew each other’s identities? Would that be enough to distract them? If it was distracting, she knew it would be a problem and would have to stop...but maybe it wouldn’t even happen and she was overthinking things for no reason. Did her knowing his identity change anything? Was he even flirting with her enough that it _could_ potentially be a problem? Or was he just being nice? He didn’t flirt the way Adrien did... “I don’t know.”

“Do you want him to flirt with you?” Plagg asked as they walked into her room to get the sewing kit.

“Plagg! I just said I don’t know!” she huffed, heading to her suitcase to pull out the scissors and needles and thread from the outer pocket of her suitcase.

“Ignore how you’d feel as Ladybug for a minute,” Tikki suggested. “We know Ladybug has to be responsible, and adding in feelings can complicate things. As Marinette, do you like the way Damian has been flirting with you?”

“He hasn’t really been—”

“Bug, he absolutely has been flirting with you,” Plagg interrupted. “Are you okay with it? Or is it making you uncomfortable? Because if he’s making you uncomfortable, we should stop testing him.”

Marinette sat back on her heels and actually thought about the way Damian had been treating her. It was nothing like the way Adrien had treated her, and Adrien insisted he loved her. That they were soulmates. It annoyed her, but there were stereotypes about boys annoying the girls they liked for a reason, right? Maybe if she had given him a chance, it would have gotten better...but Damian wasn’t annoying her. If anything, it was the exact opposite…

“He makes me feel special,” she admitted after a few minutes. “I don’t know how I’ll feel if he flirts on patrol, but he hasn’t been making me uncomfortable. I still want to keep testing him.”

“Then let’s go get your sketchbook so you can put together your disguise for tonight,” Tikki said. “And since this is a guardian duty, I’ll summon another sewing machine for you.”

“Thanks, Tikki,” Marinette smiled. "Oh, and Plagg? I'm leaving the ring with Alfred tonight for safe keeping. I know you want to tag along but I don't want to risk something happening and I accidentally lose the ring."

"That just means I get more cheese," Plagg agreed. Marinette rolled her eyes and headed to the theater.

~*~*~*~

“So, do you want to tell us what that was about?” Bruce asked as soon as they were sure Marinette was gone. “Why did you insist on her altering your old cape?”

“I don’t know,” Damian muttered, not making eye contact with anyone. “That stupid movie got me thinking about family, I guess.”

“As in a family with her?”

“Shut up, Grayson,” Damian snapped. “Just, family in general. Not only do her parents not know about her being Ladybug, but the way she was talking about them earlier made it sound like she can’t rely on them. She said they talk, but she also said they trust her to take care of herself...I don’t think they ever really step up to help her with things. They may not leave her behind like her class did, but…”

“Do you think they forget about her?” Tim asked.

“They were aware of her situation with the class when I called,” Bruce said, frowning.

“I think that’s been going on for a while now, though,” Dick pointed out. “You don’t go from being best friends with people to being repeatedly left behind by your teacher and class in just a few months, and I think I remember seeing that interview where Rossi lied about being friends with Ladybug on the Ladyblog. It was from almost four years ago. If Marinette was trying to expose her for four years...the bullying isn’t new. Which means her parents knew about it and never insisted on having her at least switch classes, if not switch schools entirely. I know that’s complicated sometimes, but isn’t making sure your daughter is in a safe environment worth the hassle?”

“Can we just adopt her?” Jason asked. “She’d be better off here.”

“Jason, that’s not how it works,” Bruce said.

“We could make it work,” Jason said.

“I think Damian might have a problem with us adopting his ‘beloved,’” Tim teased.

“Fuck,” Damian muttered. When Marinette didn’t catch the nickname, he had kind of figured no one caught it. He should have known better.

“Wait, is that what you called her?” Jason asked. “And to think I thought calling her your ‘Angel’ was as sappy as you would get.”

“Shut up, Todd. It wasn’t intentional,” Damian said, kicking the ground. “It just slipped out.”

“That doesn’t make it less cute, Baby Bird, because saying it on accident means you were thinking about it a lot,” Dick pointed out. Damian scowled, but since he was blushing it didn’t have the same effect that it normally would. “You should tell her what it means. Maybe while on patrol tonight?”

“Like hell am I going to admit that while you guys are spying over the comms,” Damian snapped. “The other night was bad enough, but at least she didn’t know you were listening. If she goes on patrol with us tonight, she’ll be able to hear you too. I don’t want her to be uncomfortable and that will absolutely make her uncomfortable.”

“That’s fair,” Tim admitted. “You should still tell her what it means though. She’s going to ask eventually.”

“I will deal with that when I get there,” Damian said. The others looked like they wanted to tease him more, but Marinette walked back in at that moment with her sketchbook and sewing stuff so they decided against it. She went straight to the workbench with a determined look, and didn’t seem to notice how Damian followed her.

That didn’t mean his family didn’t notice.

 _She’s it for him_ , Bruce thought, watching Damian peer over her shoulder to look at the design she was sketching out. He gave her just enough space that she could move freely around the cave without him being in the way, but he still hovered around her. Marinette seemed to either not notice at all or simply didn’t mind him being there. _Interesting._

~*~*~*~

It took her the rest of the afternoon, but by the time the rest of the Waynes were getting ready for patrol, she had finished her design.

She had turned the cape into a long, black, hooded pea-coat. The interior of the coat itself kept the yellow inner-lining of the original cape, but she had removed the yellow from the hood and replaced it with red fabric from the Robin suit that was originally paired with the cape. For the buttons, she made large Chinese knot fasteners that held the jacket closed on one side, creating an overlap effect. Finally, she took the R logo off the Robin suit and used it to pin the top part of the outer layer back, so she could highlight the yellow layer and still have the black part underneath to hide the Ladybug pattern. The coat came down to her mid-thigh, so it was long enough to hide her wings and the spots on her legs but not so long that it would restrict her movement. It even had pockets large enough to hold her yo-yo without being awkward. Over all, she was really happy with it.

“Hey, Pipsqueak! Is it done yet?” Jason asked, coming over with Dick and Tim in tow. All three of them were already in their suits, sans their masks.

“Where’s Damian?” Dick asked.

“He just went to change a couple of minutes ago,” Marinette said, cleaning up a couple of stitches along the hem of the jacket. Tim tsked disapprovingly.

“Slacker,” he muttered. He had a teasing expression that Marinette didn’t actually see, so her hands stilled for a second before she doubled down on her work. Dick caught the hiccup in her rhythm and frowned.

“Marinette, can I ask you something?” Dick asked. Marinette nodded but still didn’t look up. “Are you testing Damian? Is that what the Stitch thing was about today?”

“You know about the tests? Does he?” she asked, looking up with wide eyes.

“Damian doesn’t, as far as I know. Alfred was telling us about it after he went up to check on you last night. He said that he thought Damian was a Black Cat and that you might decide to test him,” Dick said. “I’m just curious if you are or not. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“I am,” Marinette said quietly. “Plagg and I see potential in him, and Master Fu and your father both gave me permission to test him and see. I don’t want to tell him, though. Not until I’m sure he’ll be a good fit. After Adrien...we’re not taking any chances.”

“We understand,” Dick promised.

“Is that why you wanted to patrol with us tonight? It’s part of the test?” Jason asked. Marinette nodded. “And the cape thing?”

“I do have a secret identity to worry about, Jason. Plus, I was inspired...I wasn’t originally going to use your old costumes though, I swear,” Marinette said.

“But then Damian insisted,” Tim said. “You know that was his old suit that you ended up using. I’m not positive about the red fabric, but the cape and logo were his.”

“Wait, really? Why didn’t any of you say something?” she asked.

“Would you have changed your mind?” Jason asked. Marinette didn’t answer, and he smirked. “So, are you going to put it on? We want to know what it looks like!”

“You’re so impatient. I only just finished it,” she said. She stood up and transformed, then took her yo-yo off her hip and turned away from them to slip on the jacket. She wanted them to see as little of it as possible until she had it buttoned up properly.

“Wow,” a voice in front of her said, and she looked up to see Damian staring at her. She blushed as red as her mask.

“Do you like it?” she asked.

“Mari-bug, we want to see!” Jason complained, effectively cutting off whatever Damian was about to say. Marinette turned to face his brothers slowly.

“How?” Dick asked. “How did you turn that old cape into this? And how did you do it so quickly?”

“I mean, it took me the whole afternoon…”

“Marinette, you’ve seen our suits. They took us weeks to come up with, let alone put together. You made a whole jacket for a disguise out of a cape in one afternoon,” Tim said. “I get how you made Damian’s jacket now.”

“I just have a lot of practice,” Marinette said quietly. “Uncle Jagged and Clara and Kitty Section commission me pretty regularly, but since I get called away from my work so often for akuma attacks, I had to get used to sewing quickly. It’s easier when I have a clear design in mind like I did with this one and Damian’s jacket, and they’re already similar with the asymmetrical closure and the red-lined hood so...”

“That’s still very impressive, Marinette,” Bruce said, walking over to the group. “You’re very good at what you do. But we do have patrol. Marinette, you’ll join Nightwing and Robin on their route.”

“Do we really need three people on one route? Damian and Marinette are both experienced enough heroes, so I think they can handle Robin’s usual patrol route by themselves,” Dick said.

“I’d rather have you there in case something happened, but if they feel like they can handle it…”

“If it makes you feel better, I usually patrol alone in Paris anyway,” Marinette said.

The expressions on their faces told Marinette that particular fact did _not_ make them feel better, but no one argued. Bruce just nodded and passed her a comm.

“Since you went to the trouble of making a new disguise to hide that Ladybug is in Gotham, you’ll need a different code name for us to use on patrol. Any suggestions?” Bruce asked.

“I was thinking Ladybird, actually,” Marinette said. “It’s still a word for ladybug, but it’s also bird themed.”

“Ladybird it is, then,” Bruce said. Marinette smiled, and the group dispersed until Damian and Marinette were the only two in the cave.

“Are you ready to go, Angel?” Damian asked, putting his mask on.

“Almost...the pigtails don’t really work with the hood, so I need a second to fix it,” Marinette said. She pulled the ribbons out of her hair and pulled it up into a high ponytail, but frowned when she realized she couldn’t retie the ribbon with only one hand.

“Need help?” Damian asked.

“Please,” she said quietly. He smiled and took one of the ribbons from her, then looped it just under where she was holding the ponytail in place and tied it securely. He dropped his hands to her shoulders while she fluffed out the ponytail.

“What are you going to do with the other ribbon?”

Marinette smiled and took one of his hands off her shoulder. She wrapped the spare ribbon around his wrist and tied it in a bow.

“For good luck,” she said, grinning at the surprised look on his face. She pulled her yo-yo out of her pocket and headed towards the cave exit. “Shall we go?”

“Sounds good to me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you guys thought of this one!!!
> 
> EDIT: Some lovely commenters pointed out that I used the wrong form of the pet name Damian called her. Habibi is the masculine form of the name apparently, it should have been Habibiti which I might still be spelling wrong but that's what 2/3 people told me it should be so I'm going with that. If I'm still wrong, please correct me and I'll fix it again!


	16. Birds of a Feather

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Ladybird's first patrol in Gotham and the streets are just a little too peaceful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys!
> 
> First off, I wanted to say I'm really sorry for how long it's taken me to write this chapter. I've just had a really rough couple of weeks and time has kind of been getting away from me since school started back up.
> 
> Second, this chapter was originally going to include a whole other section, but it would have been nearly 8k words so I decided to split it in half. Which I'm happier with because I get to really focus on more of the stuff for the next chapter instead of cramming it all in one. I can't guarantee when the next chapter will come out (it could be within a week, or it could be a couple of weeks depending on how life goes), but I'll do my best. <3
> 
> Anyway...enjoy!

Ladybird led the way out of the cave and into the city, then fell back to let Robin take the lead. It was his patrol route, after all, and she wasn’t just there to enjoy the sights. She was there to observe how he acted behind the mask.

And maybe see how she’d feel if he flirted with her while in the mask.

Not that she really expected him to, of course. But Plagg’s comments about him flirting kept bouncing around in her head and she couldn’t figure out if she wanted it to happen or not.

_Focus, Marinette. You have a job to do. This isn’t like in Paris where you can just get lost in your thoughts._

She didn’t think about how she also wanted to make a good impression, but she really wanted Damian and his family to think highly of her as Ladybug. To keep herself from thinking about that, she kept her attention diverted between Robin and the streets she was swinging over. About fifteen minutes into patrol, Robin stopped on a rooftop and Ladybird landed next to him. She walked over to the edge of the roof and admired the city.

“The streets are quiet tonight,” Nightwing commented over the comms. “Have any of you encountered any issues?”

“We’re on comms. You’d hear if we had,” Robin said dryly. Ladybird looked over her shoulder and grinned, and Robin raised an eyebrow in response. She had a gut feeling that if she could see his eyes under the mask, he’d be rolling them.

“I don’t need your sass, Robin. I was just checking in,” Nightwing snarked. “Ladybird, how are you keeping up?”

“Do you think I can’t handle this?” she asked.

“I have no doubt that you can,” Nightwing said.

“Demon Spawn’s patrols can be intense though. He can be a little one-track minded,” Red Hood said.

“I’ve been keeping up just fine, thank you very much,” Ladybird sassed. She shot Robin a teasing look. “It’s actually a little tame compared to what I do in Paris every night. I’m one small girl patrolling a big city alone, after all.”

“She’s calling you out, brat,” Red Robin taunted. “What are you going to do about it?”

“I’m going to finish my patrol, like the rest of you should be doing,” Robin said, his voice neutral despite the smile on his face as he looked at her.

_This is a different side to her. She’s actually confident like this. I wish she was like this all the time…_

“Then let’s go, mon oisillon,” she said playfully. Then she took a step in the wrong direction and fell off the roof.

“Angel!” Robin yelled in a panic, feeling his heart jump into his throat. He rushed to the edge just as her yo-yo wrapped around a nearby gargoyle and she swung back up, landing on a nearby rooftop with a flip that would’ve made Nightwing jealous. She turned to look at him with an exhilarated grin that only dropped slightly when she saw his expression.

“Did I scare you? I’m sorry, mon oisillon,” she said. Robin didn’t think she sounded sorry at all. He huffed and composed himself.

“You didn’t scare me,” he lied. He could hear his brothers snickering over the comms and rolled his eyes. “You’re going the wrong way. I was trying to get your attention.”

“So...it wouldn’t freak you out if I did it again?” she asked, walking along the edge of the roof. Robin did his best to maintain his composure and not think about her plummeting to the pavement. “Because I do that regularly enough in Paris. Though usually that’s off the Eiffel Tower…it’s taller. I can free-fall longer, but I always catch myself.”

Robin didn’t say anything, but his expression must have betrayed him. Ladybird giggled and jumped back onto the roof he was waiting for her on. She walked over and wrapped her arms around his waist, and he stubbornly refused to return the hug.

“I really didn’t mean to scare you. I’m sorry,” she said quietly, looking up at him with a pout and the biggest blue eyes he’d ever seen. “But my suit is indestructible, Robin. Even if I didn’t catch myself I would still be fine.” 

_Does the magic from her suit make her eyes more blue? Or is it just my imagination?_

He realized she was waiting for a response and huffed before hugging her back. “Just don’t do that again, okay?”

“Not without a warning,” Ladybird promised.

“What was that you said about being able to handle her, Robin?” Nightwing teased.

“I believe he said he would be fine,” Red Hood jumped in before Robin could say anything.

“Me thinks the current Boy Wonder was wrong,” Red Robin said.

Robin growled, and Ladybird giggled quietly. She reached up and tapped his nose to get his attention.

“Don’t we have a patrol to finish?” she asked sweetly. “Lead the way, mon oisillon.”

His heart flipped as he finally processed the nickname she’d been using. Sure, Grayson called him “Baby Bird” on occasion, but that was different. That was him being an annoying older brother, just like Todd was in calling him “Demon Spawn” or Drake was when he called him a brat. Ladybird, no, Ladybug, no, _Marinette_ calling him her little bird struck a chord he didn’t realize existed, let alone knew how to describe. He shook his head before removing himself from the hug and walked to the edge of the roof, fully confident that she would follow him as he jumped off and swung away.

“Warning!” she chirped over the comms, and suddenly she was swinging up next to him much faster than she should have been and laughing happily. He smiled at her and shook his head.

_She’s going to be the death of me. But I suppose there are worse ways to go._

~*~*~*~

It was already dark when Nathalie woke up. She checked the clock on the nightstand and a glowing red “9:30 PM” blinked back at her. She rubbed her eyes and slowly sat up, looking at the bag she’d stashed her valuables in.

_There’s only one way to actually accomplish what I came here to do…_

She sighed and got up, grabbing the Peacock Miraculous out of the bag and transforming. She plucked a feather from her fan and sent it out into the night, knowing it would find her target with ease.

~*~*~*~

After another fifteen minutes of patrolling the city, Ladybird felt an all-too familiar sensation shoot down her spine and chill her to her core. She crash-landed on a rooftop and hit the tiles with a groan. She was back on her feet by the time Robin landed next to her, but she could already feel herself start to panic.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no,” she said under her breath, scanning the skyline frantically.

“Ladybird, is everything okay? Did you get hit by something?” Red Hood asked over the comms, but she wasn’t listening.

“Hey, what happened?” Robin asked, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Are you hurt? Do you need to go back?”

Ladybird shook her head distractedly, pulling out of Robin’s grasp and walking towards the edge of the roof with panicked eyes. When she finally spoke, her voice was quiet, but still able to be heard over her comm.

“She can’t be here...there’s no way she’s here...please don’t let her be here,” Ladybird whispered. Before any of the others could ask what she meant, she leapt off the roof and started blindly swinging towards the sensation. She had no idea where she was going, just that she needed to find the amok before a sentimonster started attacking Gotham.

“Ladybird, where are you going?” Robin asked. When he realized he wasn’t going to get a response, he huffed and swung off after her.

“Where is it?” Ladybird was asking over the comms and she swung over the streets of Gotham. She started changing directions randomly, always headed in one general direction but taking a rather confusing route to get there. Robin found he was having trouble keeping up with her.

“Why’d she go so far off route?” Red Robin asked, realizing that Ladybird wouldn’t be answering them any time soon.

“I have no idea,” Robin said. “She fell when she landed on a rooftop and started freaking out about something. Then she just kind of took off.”

“Do you think she’s checking on her class or something?” Red Hood asked.

“We passed their hotel four blocks ago, and she didn’t get close enough to it to see anything,” Robin said.

“Is she headed towards the GCPD?” Nightwing asked. “Based on the direction you’re going...maybe this has something to do with Agreste?”

“Maybe,” Robin said through gritted teeth. She shouldn’t be going near him after everything he’s put her through, but at the same time...he couldn’t help but remember how worried she had been about Agreste going to jail the night before. If part of her still blamed herself for any reason, she could be going to try and apologize. 

Or worse, to try to get him released.

He knew Commissioner Gordon wouldn’t budge on something like this, especially after seeing how upset she was and knowing that Agreste had been manipulating her. But the thought that she could still be trying to protect him worried Damian more than he wanted to admit.

“Hm, I don’t think this has anything to do with Agreste,” Red Robin said. “Didn’t you hear what she said? Right when she started freaking out, Ladybird said _she_ can’t be here. This is something else, but I have no clue what.”

Robin frowned and continued following Ladybird as best he could. He finally caught up with her on the roof of the Gotham City Detention Center. She was kneeling with her back to him, so he gave her a wide berth as he walked around her. As soon as he came around the side, he could see she was holding a small, white feather like it was a bomb. He moved closer and knelt down in front of her.

“Ladybird?” he asked gently, but didn’t get a response. He realized belatedly that if she was still in panic mode like he thought she was, she might not have been responding to Ladybird because the name was too unfamiliar. He sighed and decided to try something else. “Ladybug?”

Still no response. He frowned and reached out slowly, touching her wrist as gently as possible.

“Angel?”

That got her attention. She looked up at him with wide, worried eyes. Her breathing was erratic, and he could tell she was shaking.

“Angel, can you talk to me? Please tell me what’s wrong,” Robin begged. She shook her head, but one of her hands grabbed his in a tight grip as she tried to steady herself. She refused to meet his eyes again. He let her take her time, outwardly appearing perfectly calm. Inwardly, he had no idea what to do in this situation. It was the third panic attack he’d witnessed her have in as many days but the first that he had to help her out of on his own, and he was at a loss for how to comfort her. He reached up with his free hand to push some stray hair that had fallen out of her ponytail away from her face and leaned his forehead against hers. He kept his breathing slow and steady, hoping she would follow his lead but having no idea if it would actually work. When her breathing finally evened out, he pulled back to look at her. She still looked terrified, but she was more in control now than she had been. 

“What happened?” he asked gently. Ladybird held up the small feather so he could see it, her hand trembling. Robin frowned. “I don’t understand…”

“Mayura is here,” she said, her voice hoarse. “She’s in Gotham. And I still don’t know who she is, but she’s here and she’s going to create sentimonsters.”

“How do you know that from a feather?”

“It’s called an amok...they come from her fan. I’ve seen them often enough...this one is already purified though. Either she changed her mind about creating a sentimonster, or I’m missing something.”

“It could just be a normal feather, Pipsqueak,” Red Hood piped up. “Nightwing and the Robins aren’t the only birds in Gotham. We have real ones too.”

The others started to agree, and though Ladybird knew they were trying to calm her down, all they did was make her more frustrated. She thought about ripping out her comm and throwing it into the river. She hadn’t minded hearing and joining in on the banter throughout the first half of patrol, but now it was too similar to how she’d heard Hawkmoth’s voice in her head when he’d nearly akumatized her. They were in her head and she needed to get them out. Their doubts were ringing in her ears the same way Lila’s lies and her class’s cruel comments did on her worst days. She couldn’t handle much more of it.

“It’s not a normal feather!” she snapped, and the comms went silent. “I can feel it. I could feel when she sent it out, I just didn’t catch up fast enough to purify it. She purified it herself and I don’t know why.”

“Why don’t you bring the feather back to the cave and I’ll look at it with you?” Alfred suggested after a moment. “I was a peacock once, I would recognize if it was an amok.”

“That’s a good idea,” Batman said. “Are you going to be okay to swing back to the cave with Robin? Or do you need one of us to get you and drive you home? The boys are on their bikes, and I’m in the Batmobile. Either way, I think you two are done with patrol for tonight.”

“I can finish patrol, I just need a minute,” Ladybird argued, but Robin shook his head.

“Angel, as much as I enjoyed patrolling with you…I think you need a break. You’re supposed to be on vacation, and trying to be a hero in an unfamiliar city doesn’t make for a very good vacation,” Robin said. Ladybird bit her lip and looked away, clearly irritated.

“Fine,” she bit out. She opened the compartment in her yo-yo to store the feather inside and slowly stood up. Robin saw her sway a little on her feet, but she caught herself before he could reach out to help her. When she spoke again, she just sounded exhausted. “Which way is the cave from here? I don’t really know where we are.”

“I can show you. Are you sure you want to swing there, though? You look really drained,” Robin said.

“I’m near you two. I’ll get her home, if she wants,” Nightwing said. “I was just redoing part of my route anyway. It’s too quiet, and it’s kind of putting me on edge. Having something to do would help.”

“Okay,” Ladybird said quietly.

“Robin, you can either go home early or finish your route. It’s up to you,” Batman said.

“I can finish up your route if you want to go home, brat. I know it well enough, and I think the route Hood and I are on is going to cross where you two were in a few minutes anyway,” Red Robin said.

“I’ll swing home, then,” Robin said. “We didn’t all need to be patrolling tonight, and it’s almost 10:00 so we would be finishing up soon regardless.”

Ladybird jumped off the roof and landed in an alley to wait for Nightwing to pull up. She leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes, trying to get her emotions under control and block out the voices in her ear, in her head. Even if the others didn’t believe her, she knew she was right. She knew Mayura was in Gotham. Which probably meant Hawkmoth was in Gotham as well, and she couldn’t afford to lose control and get akumatized. Especially not in a foreign country. She needed to remain calm and in control of the situation so it wouldn’t escalate. She needed a plan.

_Once I get back to the cave, Alfred will confirm the feather is an amok. Then we can start trying to find Mayura. Maybe they can help me get into the police cameras and I can try to backtrack the route the feather took before it landed on the roof of the detention center...what was it even doing there? Why wasn’t there an attack? She couldn’t have—_

“I didn’t know the Bat adopted a new kid,” a stranger’s voice nearby interrupted her thoughts, and Ladybird’s eyes snapped open. The first thing she saw was the way the light from a nearby streetlamp reflected off of black leather, and then she saw the pointed ears on top of the figure’s head. Her anxiety from earlier was back with a vengeance, and before the figure could move Ladybird had snapped out her yo-yo, wrapping it tightly around the figure. “What the hell?”

“You can’t be here, Chat…” Ladybird muttered, pulling her yo-yo tighter to test the resistance. She was hoping it was an illusion, or the stress finally getting to her, or something. But the way Chat struggled felt too familiar.

“What are you talking about?” Chat demanded. Ladybird was about to respond when Robin dropped down next to her.

“Hey, look at me,” he said. His tone was gentle, and the hand he placed on her shoulder helped to ground her. She took a breath and looked up at him, still holding the end of her yo-yo tightly. “That’s not Chat Noir, okay? I understand why you would think it is, but it’s not. You took Chat’s ring, and he’s in jail now, remember? He can’t get to you.”

“Then who is that?” she asked quietly. Robin smiled, relieved she hadn’t spiraled as far this time and could actually answer him.

“That’s Catwoman. She’s in a relationship with my father,” Robin said. Ladybird blinked, but before she could respond the others were back in her head and she had to focus on blocking them out as much as possible.

“Wait, Selina’s back in town?”

“Wasn’t she supposed to be on a trip with the girls this week?”

“Are they all back early?”

“No, they’re still on their trip. They called after they saw the news report of the break-in and asked if they needed to come back. I told them no, but apparently Selina came back anyway,” Batman said. “You can stand down, Ladybird. She’s not there to cause trouble.”

“She’s always here to cause trouble,” Nightwing said, and they could hear his smirk over the comms. The boys snickered, and Bruce just sighed.

Ladybird looked up at Robin, waiting for him to confirm everything really was okay. When he nodded, she flicked her wrist and pulled her yo-yo back, releasing Catwoman. 

Not Chat. Catwoman.

Chat Noir couldn’t get to her.

“What are you doing here?” Robin asked, turning to the woman. “You’re supposed to be out of town.”

“What, that’s it? I don’t expect a hug, Robin, but a hello to your mom would be nice,” Catwoman said. Ladybird froze.

“Your mom…?” she whispered, remembering what he had said about his mother earlier that day.

_Damian’s mother was an assassin...she took away his childhood. She forced him to be a perfect assassin. He was so young…do I get him away from her? Where would I even take him? I don’t know Gotham well enough..._

“What?” Robin asked. He turned to her with a confused expression, but he must have seen her concern because he quickly elaborated, “She isn’t my birth mother, Angel, but I do call her mom. She’s been in a relationship with my father for a few years now.”

“She knows about your birth mother?” Catwoman asked. She looked between the two and noted that Robin was standing as close to this new girl as he ever did with family, but also that they were leaning into each other’s space even if they weren’t quite touching.

“She knows about everything,” Robin said.

“Robin, give her your comm. We can help explain,” Batman ordered. The boys started snickering again, and Robin rolled his eyes before reaching for his comm.

Ladybird ripped out hers first, holding it out to him without meeting his gaze. Robin hesitated to take it from her, and she sighed.

“I need them out of my head,” she whispered. 

Robin sighed and pressed a gentle kiss to the top of her head before he took the comm from her and passed it to a very surprised Catwoman. He turned back around as Nightwing finally pulled up on his bike.

“You ready to go, Ladybird?” Nightwing asked. She nodded quietly, so Robin helped her get on the back of the bike. She pulled the hood up to cover her hair and wrapped her arms around Nightwing’s waist. Once she was secure, Robin shot his eldest brother a look.

“Be careful,” he said in a low voice. Nightwing just nodded and took off. Robin was about to follow when Catwoman caught his wrist.

“Who was she?” Catwoman asked.

“The brat’s girlfriend,” Red Robin answered.

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Robin argued.

“Not yet, she isn’t. And it’s only because you won’t tell her how you feel,” Red Hood said.

“You’re really lucky she’s not on the comms right now, Hood,” Robin growled lowly.

“Relax, Demon Spawn. That’s why I’m saying it now.”

“She had an accent...where is she from? And when did you meet her?” Catwoman asked.

“Selina, you can meet her back at the Manor. She’s staying with us for the time being,” Batman said.

“She’s what? How long have you known her? I know you make a habit of adopting stray kids, Bats, but I’ve only been gone for five days. When did this happen?”

“Yesterday,” Red Robin said. “Robin met her three nights ago, and met her officially Sunday morning. We pulled some strings yesterday and she agreed to leave the school trip she was on.”

“She’s the classmate the model was after,” Catwoman said, her eyes widening. “If he was volatile enough to try stealing her back from you, I understand why you took her in. But what was up with her reaction to me? Was that a yo-yo? It didn’t look like any of your toys.”

“That’s a much longer story that we can talk about back at the cave,” Robin said, leaving no room for arguments.

“You’re just anxious to get back to her,” Red Robin teased. Robin huffed.

“She had two panic attacks tonight. One had her racing through a city she doesn’t know and she didn’t even know where she was going, and the other caused her to think Catwoman was Chat Noir. Of course I’m worried about her,” Robin said.

“Robin, head home. We’ll follow,” Batman said. Robin didn’t waste any more time before swinging off towards the manor.

~*~*~*~

Nightwing pulled into the cave and parked, then tapped Ladybird’s hand lightly.

“We’re here, sweetheart. You okay?” Nightwing asked.

“Fine,” she said quietly. Nightwing frowned and helped her off the bike.

“Are you sure? You seem distant,” he said.

“I’ll be fine, Dick. I just want Alfred to look at the feather I found,” she said. What she didn’t say was she really just wanted them to believe her. After the way she acted on patrol, she wasn’t really surprised they didn’t, but it was still frustrating. She opened the compartment on her yo-yo to get the feather, and her heart sank when she realized it was empty. “No…”

“What is it?”

“It’s gone...I don’t have the feather anymore…”

“Did it fall out?”

“It shouldn’t have...my yo-yo is magic. Nothing has ever fallen out of it before. The magic must have run out...I’ve never tried to keep one of the feathers before, so I don’t know how long they last after detransforming...my Lucky Charms don’t last but I also have a limited amount of time after summoning one before I detransform, while Mayura and Hawkmoth can still fight and stay transformed as long as they need to after using theirs. I know their powers are different but I don’t really know how different...the grimoire didn’t tell me any of that. Sentimonsters can last ages if they aren’t defeated but I don’t know how long the feathers can last after being purified,” she rambled. Nightwing knelt down and put a hand on her shoulder.

“Sweetheart, things happen. Maybe it was just a normal feather that fell out when you caught Selina with your yo-yo,” he said gently. “I understand you’re worried, but I don’t think you have to worry about your villains following you out of Paris. What would they even gain from that? They don’t know you’re here and all it would do is risk their identities. It wouldn’t be a smart plan.”

Ladybird was quiet for a few minutes, before she took off her peacoat and detransformed. Nightwing’s heart broke when he saw how exhausted she looked without the mask.

“I’m going to bed...will you tell the others I’ll just see them in the morning?” Marinette asked. Nightwing nodded, and she left the cave without another word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want you all to know that I genuinely appreciate everyone who has been reading and/or commenting and leaving kudos. I try to respond to every comment and I love talking to you guys! Seeing your reactions to the chapters absolutely makes my day!


	17. Know Your Enemy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette can't sleep after patrol, and the Batfamily's resident insomniac is the one to find her. What he finds out leads to a "come-to-Jesus" meeting with the rest of the fam.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...I'm very sorry this took so long. The last couple of months have been hell for my mental health. A few updates on my current situation...at the start of October I took a medical leave of absence from university to get my depression and ADHD under control. I'm doing better, but I'm on new meds that haven't started working yet and it's making life a bit difficult. But I want to thank all of you for sticking with this story and all of your great comments. They keep me motivated!
> 
> But huge shout out to ozmav for helping me work through the dialogue for this chapter until it felt right. Tim was the last person from the immediate Batfam that hadn't gotten a one-on-one moment with her yet, and what better way to include that moment than having two insomniacs bonding over their mutual sleep issues?

Robin got back to the cave as quickly as possible. He couldn’t have been more than ten minutes behind them, but by the time he got there, Nightwing and Alfred were the only two in the cave, and Marinette’s coat was left on the workbench she’d been using that afternoon. Nightwing turned to face him as he swung in.

“She already went to bed, Baby Bird,” Nightwing said, anticipating his little brother’s question. “She was exhausted. Let her rest, and you can see how she’s doing in the morning.”

“Did you figure out what the feather was?” Robin asked. Alfred shook his head.

“It had disappeared by the time she got back,” he said.

“Are you sure she actually had a feather?” Nightwing asked.

“I’m positive. I saw her holding it,” Robin said, crossing his arms. “I also saw the way she was looking at it...she wouldn’t have freaked out like that if it was a normal feather, I’m sure of it. Not after she’s gotten so used to protecting herself from an emotional terrorist and has had people manipulating her for years.”

“It could have been just been PTSD though. Remember how she reacted to you when you touched her earring? You weren’t an akuma and she thought you were. She thought all of us were,” Nightwing pointed out. “She’s been breaking down a lot of walls the last two days, Baby Bird...they could be coming down faster than she can handle. Maybe she’s so used to being attacked by akumas and sentimonsters while on patrol that going on patrol with us triggered something and caused a panic attack. It wouldn’t matter how well she could lock up her emotions if the walls she hid them behind are shattered.”

“That’s not it,” Robin said, tsking as he thought over everything he knew about her. “She was insistent that it was one of Mayura’s feathers, and she wouldn’t say that unless she was sure. And anyway, there wasn’t anything to set her off. Not anything that would drag her all the way to the detention center of all places. She didn’t find the feather until she got there.”

“How do you know? You were behind her.”

“I just do. She said it was already purified when she got to it. Grayson, she knows this enemy better than we do. I trust her. I think we should be careful.”

“I know you’re new to the whole ‘feelings’ thing, but don’t let your crush distract you, Demon Spawn,” Red Hood said as he pulled into the cave. “Dickie-bird had a point. It wouldn’t make sense for her villains to follow her here. As far as anyone knows, they don’t know her identity and it would just put their identities at risk.”

“What, so none of you trust her?”

“We all trust her, brat, you know we do,” Red Robin said. “But this is different. You said it yourself, she was so freaked she thought Selina was Chat Noir. It’s not unreasonable for us to think she thought a normal feather could be magic.”

Robin scowled and ran his hands through his hair. He understood what they were saying. He knew it made sense. In any other situation, he wouldn’t have believed it either, but he saw how panicked she was. It wasn’t like her panic when she thought they were akumas, or when she freaked out while trying to explain the akumas to them the day before, or when Selina snuck up on her. He could tell it was more like her panic when Adrien broke into the manor, just magnified. The way she tracked it was a conditioned response, and he had a gut feeling that had there actually been an attack, she would have been fine. She might have freaked out later, but he knew she would have handled the situation first. He firmly believed she only panicked seeing the feather because she knew the script had changed and she didn’t know why.

“I’ll talk to her about it in the morning,” Robin conceded, still irritated. “But she didn’t freak out for no reason, I know that much.”

“Then why’d you tell her to take a break?” Red Hood asked.

“Because she was tired, Todd,” Robin snapped. “She crossed the city in ten minutes after following my patrol route for half an hour after having a really long couple of days and like Grayson said, she was exhausted. She could barely stand. The fact is that she needs a break; it had nothing to do with whether or not I believed her. I trust her judgment. If she thinks we could be in trouble, I think we should listen.”

“Look, we’ll figure this out in the morning, Baby Bird. Go get some sleep,” Nightwing said. Robin scowled and left the cave.

~*~*~*~

Marinette wasn’t asleep. If she was honest, she hadn’t even tried. How could she sleep when Hawkmoth and Mayura were somewhere in Gotham, waiting to akumatize her over a nightmare?

She knew the Waynes were talented heroes. Bruce Wayne was _Batman_ , one of the most well known American heroes. She knew they were capable. But they don’t understand Miraculouses. They’ve never had to fight an akuma or sentimonster before. They can’t purify them and reverse the damage. Only she could do that, and if she were to be akumatized over a bad dream or because she couldn’t keep her emotions under control, they would be lost. Not to mention, Damian didn’t have the ring yet. Marinette still had both the Black Cat and Ladybug Miraculouses that Hawkmoth wanted. If she were akumatized with both of them and Tikki and Plagg couldn’t get them away from her before the akumatization took hold, Hawkmoth would win.

And even though she’d made a fool of herself and ruined their patrol, she knew they would need her to fight an akuma. Even if they didn’t believe an akuma could show up in Gotham. Even if they didn’t believe _her_.

So now she was lying awake in the dark, listening as the house settled into silence as everyone began to turn in for the night. Around 2:00 am, she was confident that all of the others would be asleep, including her kwamis, so she put on her slippers and padded downstairs. She thought about going to the cave to work out her frustration from the night in the training area, but if Hawkmoth was in the area, venting out her emotions like that could make her vulnerable. Besides, she wasn’t sure sure if she would be welcome down there without the others around. So instead she went to the kitchen and made herself some hot chocolate.

She sat at the kitchen table with her hands cupped around her mug, relishing the warmth and trying to get her thoughts to quiet down. Trying to force her negative emotions out of her mind before they attracted a little purple butterfly. But for some reason...for some reason she couldn’t.

The events of the night kept flashing in her mind’s eye, and every time she tried to push them aside, her brain circled back to earlier in the week. Between being left behind and meeting Damian and having multiple panic attacks and Adrien getting arrested because of her…

“Marinette? What are you doing awake?” Tim asked. Marinette startled and looked up, wiping her eyes as he grabbed a mug out of the cabinet and turned on the coffee maker.

“Couldn’t sleep...I usually don’t to be honest. I didn’t realize anyone else would be awake when I came downstairs…”

“I don’t sleep either,” Tim shrugged. He brought his fresh mug of coffee over to the kitchen table and sat down across from her. “Want to talk about it?”

“There’s not much to talk about,” she said, shrugging back at him. “I just don’t sleep.”

“Is it the nightmares?” Tim asked after they were sitting in silence for a few minutes. He saw the way she stiffened and nodded. “We all get them, Marinette...we understand. Sometimes talking about it helps. And sometimes going down to the cave and punching the training dummies until you feel tired again helps more.”

“You don’t understand, Tim...if I have a nightmare, I could be akumatized. I would be _compromised_ , and I can’t afford to have that happen…”

“Hawkmoth can akumatize people over a bad dream?”

“It’s a negative emotion. And considering how many late night akumas we’ve had in the last couple of years, I guess Hawkmoth has realized it’s harder for people to fight off the akumatization in their sleep. It’s hard enough as it is...I would know. I’ve done it a few times now, and it’s not easy.”

“What are the nightmare akumas like? If you feel comfortable talking about it...”

“Sometimes it’s Sandboy again. An akuma that makes people’s worst nightmares become real. Once there was one that trapped everyone who was asleep in a dream world...I only realized there was an akuma when Tikki didn’t wake up the next morning. I had to take her to Master Fu to get the Miraculouses that were still in the Miracle Box, because those kwamis wouldn’t have been affected. It was basically another Kwamibuster situation where I had to fight with all of them because I was the only person in the city that was awake…I did pass out after that one, so I missed school that day. I just told everyone I was sick.”

Tim’s eyes widened, but he could tell Marinette still had more to say so he kept quiet.

“There have been several, both akumas and sentimonsters, based on Miraculous holders. Sometimes those are copycats and sometimes they’re new holders with one of the Miraculouses I’ve loaned out to temporary heroes in the past. A lot of kids have nightmares and either want to be heroes or want the heroes to come and protect them from their bad dreams. I’ve had to fight myself so many times...it’s ridiculous.”

“How can you tell the difference between fake holders and real ones? Have your teammates ever fought you instead of the fake you before?” Tim asked, genuinely curious.

“I’m the one that chooses new holders in emergencies, Tim. And like I mentioned yesterday...I’m the only permanent holder right now. Before it was me and Chat, but he stopped showing up to fights. If a Chat Noir was seen out, I pretty much always knew it was a fake. If anyone else showed up, I knew it was an akuma because I hadn’t chosen any new holders.”

“That makes sense, I guess. But why aren’t you sleeping tonight?” he asked.

“I know none of you believe me, but I know Mayura is here. And if Mayura is here, then Hawkmoth probably is too. Or he’s not far behind her. I don’t know why they’re here or what they want if not the Miraculouses, but I _do_ know they’re here,” Marinette said, her voice taking on a desperate edge. “I’ve been trying to calm down so they can’t get to me...I still have both of the Miraculouses he wants and you have no way of getting in touch with Master Fu to get more Miraculouses to fight me if I get akumatized here. You wouldn’t be able to fight me as the Bat Family...you don’t have magic protecting you. You could get killed, and without my Cure to undo the damage…”

“Marinette...I promise you you’re safe here,” Tim said soothingly. He reached across the table to squeeze her hand. “Hawkmoth isn’t here. If he was, don’t you think he would have made a move by now?”

“I don’t know! I don’t know and that’s what I’m freaking out about...I _know_ that was one of Mayura’s feathers tonight, what I don’t know is why she purified the amok without sending out a monster. There should have been an attack tonight, and I can’t figure out why there wasn’t…”

“Okay. If you truly believe they’re here...what do they have to gain? They don’t know who you are. They don’t know you’re here, so why would they attack Gotham?” Tim asked. He could practically see the cogs turning in Marinette’s head as she thought it over.

“They could be trying to draw me out. Move the fight to unfamiliar territory, and Gotham is infamous for its Rogue Gallery. This city is the crime capital of the world...there are a lot of potential targets for akumatization. Especially with my class here. They’re the most common akumas and after Lila was exposed and Adrien was arrested, all of their emotions are going to be running high. Lila caused a lot of unnecessary drama with her lies, and Madame Bustier won’t be able to step in and calm everyone down. That was always my job, even when none of them ever believed me about Lila,” Marinette said, her tone even despite the sad look in her eyes. 

“But if Hawkmoth knew our class was here—which, if he took to monitoring Chloe like I’m worried he did after she exposed herself as Queen Bee, he _will_ know we’re here because it’s been all over her social media—he might follow us here. Even if no one in my class gets akumatized, there are a lot of targets that would make for powerful akumas. And in an unfamiliar city without allies…”

“You’d be at a disadvantage,” Tim finished, his lips pressed into a grim line. “If you weren’t in Gotham already and made your way here to fight an akuma, you presumably wouldn’t have anyone you could trust that would know the city, unless you trusted the local heroes with a Miraculous to help. Which, given how powerful the Miraculouses are, would be really dangerous.”

“Exactly. Going up against anyone in Gotham, or god forbid one of you or someone locked up in Arkham...I don’t want to know what would happen if the Joker was akumatized,” Marinette said, and she and Tim both shuddered at the thought.

They lapsed into silence. Tim was clearly thinking about the kind of damage an akuma could cause in Gotham. Marinette’s thoughts, on the other hand, were all over the place.

“I don’t need you to believe me. No one ever does anyway...Master Fu is the only one who always believes me, and I know he won’t be around forever,” Marinette said quietly.

“What about your friends, Luka and Kagami? They believe you, right?” Tim asked. Marinette shrugged.

“They believe me about most things but...I know they can tell when I’m lying. I’m not very good at it, but they don’t know I’m Ladybug yet so sometimes I have to,” she said. “I guess it doesn’t really matter. I’m a magical teenage superhero fighting a terrorist who is using one of the best kept secrets in the world to turn people into monsters...why should I expect people to believe me?”

“Marinette, you’re a really smart kid. You have good instincts, especially when it comes to people,” Tim said. “You figured out our identities immediately, even when there are people we’ve known our whole lives who can’t figure it out. You figured out exactly what kind of person Damian is after only knowing him for a little over two days, without asking any of us anything. We should have believed you tonight.”

“I don’t need you to believe me, Tim. I just need to be prepared,” Marinette shrugged.

“...Damian believed you tonight, you know,” Tim said. “He trusts your instincts. He said that you know this enemy better than we do and that we should be careful.”

“He did…?” she asked quietly, staring into her mug of hot chocolate. Tim ducked down a little to see her expression and was surprised to see tears pooling in her eyes.

“He did. And he was right. You do know your enemy better than we do, and there are real reasons for him to come here. We should have trusted you earlier, or at least sat down with you and talked it out. Do you know what Hawkmoth wants with the Miraculouses?”

“He…” Marinette trailed off. She took a deep breath and wiped her eyes, then tried again. “He probably wants to make a wish. When the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculouses are combined, they can grant any wish. The problem is, aside from not knowing _what_ he wants to wish for, every wish would have consequences. They have the power to alter the universe completely, but balance would have to be maintained. To bring someone back to life, someone else would have to die, that kind of thing.”

“So if he got both of them...he could do anything,” Tim said, horrified at the implications. Marinette nodded.

“Yeah. If he got both, he could do anything. Which is why he could be desperate enough to come to a city like Gotham without knowing if I was here or not,” she said.

“Damian was right to trust you. I’m sorry we didn’t,” Tim apologized. Marinette looked up at him, her eyebrows knitted together and her blue eyes watery.

“Why did he believe me?” she asked softly.

“Honestly? We all just assumed it was because of his feelings for you, but I’m not so sure. I think he picked up on something we missed,” Tim said. Her frown deepened.

“He really has feelings for me…?” she asked. She must have caught the way Tim’s head tilted to the side and his brows furrowed, because she explained. “He just...I just...Chat always did these big gestures, and he was constantly flirting and trying to tell me that he loved me. And it was always at the worst times...and Damian has been _wonderful_ and I like him a lot but…”

“Marinette,” Tim started slowly, “the way Adrien treated you...that wasn’t love. You know that, right? He was trying to control you...someone who actually loves you won’t treat you like he did. They’ll respect you and your boundaries and won’t try to force you to accept their declarations of love at bad times or after you’ve turned them down.”

“I…” she trailed off, then shook her head rapidly, tears beginning to stream down her cheeks. Tim waited for her to work through her thoughts on her own. When she started sobbing, he walked around the table and hugged her. She latched onto him tightly and cried her eyes out.

“Why don’t we go wake Damian up?” Tim suggested when she started to calm down.

“I don’t...I don’t want to bother him…it’s really late...”

“Marinette, honey, he won’t be mad at you. He might be irritated with me, but he won’t be mad at you.”

“Why would we wake him though…?”

“He stayed with you last night, didn’t he?” She nodded. “Did you have any nightmares?” She hesitated but shook her head.

“I actually slept better than I have in a long time…”

“You need to sleep more, Marinette. I’m probably the biggest hypocrite there is right now considering I regularly go days at a time without sleep, but you do need rest. If cuddling with Damian helps you sleep better, I’m sure he won’t turn you away. Come on,” Tim encouraged, pulling away from her and holding out his hand. Marinette hesitated for a minute, clearly weighing her options before she made her decision and took his hand.

“Thank you,” she said quietly. Tim led her upstairs, but she stopped them just before he could knock on the door. “Tim...is Damian a good hero? I’ve heard he takes the job seriously, but I know from experience you can’t always trust people who report on heroes to know the full story…I wanted to see how he acted while we were on patrol tonight, but I kind of ruined that chance...”

“You wouldn’t have gotten that chance tonight anyway, Marinette. All of our routes were really quiet. There was no one for him to help, even if Mayura hadn’t made an appearance,” Tim said, smiling reassuringly at her. “But he is a good hero. Very serious, and a little intense, but he’s a good hero. I don’t know what the requirements for being a Black Cat are, but I can tell you he’s someone you can trust to help you, whether it’s as Damian or Robin or whatever name he would go by using the ring.”

“Thank you,” she said and hugged him tightly. Tim hugged her back, then let go and knocked on Damian’s door until he opened it. He finally did, a tired scowl on his face and his hair messed up.

“What do you want, Drake?” he all but growled. Marinette ducked behind Tim.

“I knew this was a bad idea…” she whispered. Damian’s brows knit together as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and focused on her.

“Angel? What are you doing awake? I thought you went to sleep hours ago…” he said. 

“She’s having a rough night,” Tim said, nudging her towards him. He noticed her start to tear up again the same time Damian did.

“What’s wrong...?” Damian asked gently. He stepped forward and enveloped her in a hug, and his heart shattered when he felt her latch onto him and start sobbing. He shot Tim a worried look, but his brother just shook his head.

“Later,” Tim whispered. Damian nodded.

“Angel, why don’t we go into my room and try to get some sleep?” he asked. Marinette nodded, still crying too hard to verbally respond, and Damian led her into his room.

As soon as the door closed, Tim stormed off to wake the rest of the family.

~*~*~*~

“Tim, you’d better have a good fucking reason for dragging us all down to the cave at three in the fucking morning,” Jason growled. “And where’s Demon Spawn? If this is a family meeting, shouldn’t he be here too?”

“Damian is busy comforting a sobbing Marinette right now and trying to convince her to get some sleep. She didn’t sleep at all after patrol. I found her in the kitchen with a mug of hot chocolate about an hour ago,” Tim snapped. “We should have trusted her. I think Hawkmoth, or at least Mayura, are in the city.”

“Why? There hasn’t been an attack, Tim,” Dick said tiredly. “I know that she knows her enemy better or whatever it was Damian said, but what use would come from risking their identities like that?”

“Because Gotham is unfamiliar territory with a lot of potential for very powerful akumas,” Tim said, irritated his family wasn’t understanding. “He could possess someone in Arkham, or one of us, or one of her classmates who are apparently his usual victims, or anyone in the city if they had a nightmare. Imagine what the _Joker_ could do to the city, to _her_ , if he was given magic powers and told all he had to do in return was find a ring and a pair of earrings? She currently has both of them, since she hasn’t decided if she’ll give Damian the ring yet. All an akuma would have to do is take her down and it could be game over. And Hawkmoth apparently wants the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculouses because when they’re combined, they grant the wearer something called the ultimate power...it can grant any wish. They can change the entire universe, so long as a balance is maintained. Do you have any idea what something like that could _do_? What someone who was desperate to get a wish would do for that? 

“She doesn’t have allies here, as far as Hawkmoth knows. Any allies he knows she has are heroes back in Paris, and they don’t know Gotham any better than she does. She would be completely out of her element fighting an akuma that knows the city and potentially knows _exactly_ how to cause the most destruction,” Tim finished, grimly satisfied with the horrified expressions on their faces.

“I wasn’t thinking about that…” Dick admitted. He rubbed his hand over his eyes. “I was so focused on trying to reassure her that I didn’t think about the kind of villain she’s actually dealing with…”

“She needs us to trust her. The only person she has that fully trusts her is the Guardian that’s been training her, and Damian, but she doesn’t believe he really trusts her,” Tim said. “She didn’t even believe he really had feelings for her because he hasn’t been treating her the way Adrien did.”

“You’re kidding,” Jason said, shaking his head. “She thought the way Agreste treated her was love? The kid seemed like he wanted to own her. He was manipulating her and abusing her and treating her terribly, and he managed to convince her that was love?”

“He kept insisting he loved her and that they were meant to be,” Bruce pointed out. “And he’s been doing this to her since she was thirteen. It makes sense that she got confused...think about what Joker did to Harley by convincing her he loved her.”

The brothers all shuddered at that comparison.

“You said the ring and earrings could combine to grant any wish, right?” Dick asked after a few moments. The family turned to look at him and realized he looked genuinely ill. Tim nodded. “Agreste had half of that power already. What if he had betrayed her and taken the earrings from her? If he really wanted to own her...he could have wished that he did, and the universe would have made it happen.”

“Bruce, tell me that kid is never getting out of jail,” Jason growled. “He can’t be allowed near her again. And if you don’t make sure he stays away from her, I will.”

“I’m going to do everything I can to keep him away from her. But it’s going to come down to our lawyers against Agreste’s if we can’t get her to make a statement outlining everything he’s done...I’ll see what I can do. Maybe Damian can get through to her and convince her to talk to Commissioner Gordon,” Bruce said, and despite clearly not being happy with that option, his sons all nodded. They all went back upstairs to their rooms, but they kept thinking about Marinette’s situation.

_If she needs to talk to the police...she’s going to have to overcome a lot of manipulation and emotional abuse in a really short time, and she may not be able to handle that…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what y'all thought of this one! 
> 
> I promise I'm going to try to get the next chapter done soon, but I also want to get a head-start on the Daminette December ficlets I'm planning on writing, so we'll see how it goes. I'll probably alternate between those and writing Chapter 18...it's one I'm really, really excited for, so hopefully that'll keep me motivated to finish it quickly. A lot of stuff is about to happen and I'm so excited. I've had the next three or four chapters planned out for months. I just need the words at this point. <3
> 
> Thanks for reading!!!


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